Schoolboy suffers cracked skull after landing on head during lunchtime game

The Mainichi Shimbun
December 2, 2006
Source: http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20061202p2a00m0na017000c.html

TAGAWA, Fukuoka -- A schoolboy suffered a fractured skull after landing on his head during a game at a school here in which students threw each other up into the air, it has been learned.

Officials at Tagawa Municipal Oura Elementary School, where the accident occurred, said they would warn students over the incident, judging that their behavior was inappropriate.

School officials said a group of nine six-graders including the injured boy took turns throwing each other up into the air in an empty classroom on the third floor of the school during the lunch break on Nov. 16. As members of the group threw one person into the air, they would withdraw their hands and the student in the air would have to land on the ground by themselves.

During the game, however, one of the boys failed to land properly and his head hit the floor, fracturing his skull. He was taken to a hospital, and remains hospitalized.

About one week prior to the accident, the parent of one injured student contacted the school and said, "There are scars on my child's body. I want you to warn the students." When the school carried out an investigation, it found that nine students were kicking and hitting each other during games of tag.

Commenting on the latest case, school principal Kenji Inoue said, "The injury occurred by chance, but if things are left as they are, they could disrupt the class. We take this as a serious situation and want to strongly warn students." (Mainichi)

December 2, 2006