Parents of boy who committed suicide after school punishment file damages suit

The Mainichi Shimbun
March 16, 2007
Source: http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070316p2a00m0na006000c.html

KITAKYUSHU -- The parents of an 11-year-old boy who committed suicide after being physically punished by his teacher have filed a lawsuit in the Kokura branch of the Fukuoka District Court seeking 81 million yen in damages for his death.

The parents filed the lawsuit against the Kitakyushu Municipal Government, which operates the school the boy attended, blaming the teacher's physical punishment and other factors for his suicide.

"We want to unravel the facts and have many people think about the problems of physical punishment and the suicide of children," one of the boy's parents said in giving a reason for filing the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, the 11-year-old boy, a student at Kitakyushu Municipal Aoba Elementary School, started being physically punished by his 51-year-old female teacher in about April 2005, and sometimes came home crying.

On March 16, 2006, he was grabbed by the collar and pushed down onto the floor. Afterwards he ran out of the classroom and committed suicide by hanging himself at his home.

Citing the continued physical punishment and the punishment the boy received on the day of his death, one of the boy's parents said, "He suffered an extreme sense of humiliation and he resisted it with his own death."

Commenting on the actions of the teacher, who has since resigned, and the school, the parents said, "After he ran out of the classroom they didn't contact his guardians and they lacked consideration after the incident."

They also criticized the actions of the Kitakyushu Municipal Board of Education, saying, "It ordered the destruction of a questionnaire carried out on children after the suicide, and acted against bringing the matter to light."

Both parents appeared in a news conference holding up a photograph of their son.

"We've searched for the truth, but the questionnaire that would have provided hints has been destroyed. Why did a life have to be lost?" one of the parents said. They added that they had filed the lawsuit to shed light on the facts of the case.

A representative of the municipal board of education declined to comment on the case, saying the complaint had not arrived. (Mainichi)

March 16, 2007