125,000 cases of bullying reported in '06 school year

The Yomiuri Shimbun
November 17, 2007
Source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20071117TDY02301.htm

Nearly 125,000 cases of bullying were identified in the nation's schools during the 2006 academic year--a sixfold increase from the previous year, according to the results of an Education, Science and Technology Ministry survey announced Thursday.

The ministry did, however, expand the scope of the survey and made the definition of bullying broader in an attempt to obtain a clearer picture of the situation in primary, middle and high schools.

It expanded the scope of the survey from just municipality or prefecture-run schools to include state-run and private schools, and had schools report bullying cases through prefectural boards of education.

It changed the definition of bullying in principle from "cases in which a child acutely suffered from continuous bullying" to "cases in which a child feels he or she has been bullied."

As a result, the number of cases soared from 20,143 in the 2005 academic year to 124,898 in 2006. Of those cases, 60,897 were identified in primary schools, 51,310 in middle schools, 12,307 in high schools and 384 in special-needs and similar schools.

Bullying was identified in 48 percent of primary schools, 71 percent of middle schools and 59 percent of high schools.

Between the 1997 and 2005 academic years, there was no more than one suicide by bullied students per year. In 2006, there were six bullying-related suicides--five at middle schools and one at a high school.

Bullying in the shape of malicious slander over the Internet or on mobile phones was surveyed for the first time. Of 4,883 such cases that were reported, 466 were in primary schools, 2,691 in middle schools, 1,699 in high schools and 27 in special-needs schools.

Examples of cases reported to the ministry included a female student who posted composite photographs on Internet notice boards, and numerous text messages being forwarded to students, urging them to ignore certain classmates.

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Families search for truth on suicides

Families of students who committed suicide as a result of school bullying blame themselves for not noticing signs of their children's torment, and have been appealing to schools and authorities over the past year to reveal details of the bullying.

While the issue of bullying is being tackled across the country, the families' pain stays with them.

A bullied student in her second year at a middle school in Mizunami, Gifu Prefecture, committed suicide on Oct. 23, 2006--her birthday.

Her father marked the day this year by buying her favorite strawberry cake and placing it on her desk at their home.

"Why would a normal girl feel she couldn't carry on living?" he asked. "It's such a shame."

Her school symbolically moved her up to the third grade as if she were still alive, and continues to retain a desk, locker and shoe box for her. The girl's classmates still take her portrait to school events such as sports meets and school excursions.

On the 23rd of every month the school holds a "Compassion Day," when all students fill out psychological questionnaires in an attempt to avoid overlooking signs of bullying.

"I hope that my daughter's death wasn't in vain and the same mistakes are never repeated," her father said.

Keisuke Mori, a second-year student at at Miwa Middle School in Chikuzenmachi, Fukuoka Prefecture, also took his own life in October 2006 after being bullied.

"My frustration that I didn't notice the bullying won't leave me," Keisuke's father, Junji, 41, said.

An investigative committee of the town's board of education recognized in a report it compiled in December last year that bullying had taken place, but did not state any details of specific acts.

"I want to know what my son suffered," Keisuke's mother, Mika, 37, said. "The hardest thing is not knowing the details of what went on."

The uncle of a girl in the sixth grade at a primary school in Takikawa, Hokkaido, who died after a suicide attempt in September 2005, also laments the fact he failed to notice his niece's suffering.

"My sense of shame gets stronger as time goes on," said Yukio Kohata, who lived with the girl and her family.

The children who bullied the girl have made no direct apology, and her class teacher has not yet said she is sorry for her poor handling of the bullying situation.

(Nov. 17, 2007)

Bullying in schools skyrocketing

The Mainichi Shimbun
November 16, 2007
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20071116p2a00m0na001000c.html

TOKYO (AP) -- The number of bullying cases reported in schools across Japan has risen sharply after officials broadened the term's definition following a series of bullying-linked student suicides, the Education Ministry said Thursday.

A total of 124,898 cases of bullying were reported at elementary, junior high and high schools in the fiscal year ending in March 2007, up from 20,143 cases a year earlier, the ministry said.

A ministry official attributed the sharp rise to the wider definition of bullying and to the inclusion of private and national government-run schools in the total. Previous surveys only included schools run by local governments.

The ministry dropped words such as "repeated" and "one-sided" in its definition of bullying for the latest survey.

It found that six students -- five in junior high school and one in high school -- killed themselves because of bullying in the most recent fiscal year, up from one suicide a year earlier, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with policy.

Most of the bullying cases at some 40,000 schools have been resolved, according to the ministry.

Bullying has long been a problem in Japanese schools, where students are under harsh competitive pressure, conformity is valued and those who do not fit in can be mercilessly picked on.

Authorities took countermeasures in the 1990s, allowing victims to attend alternative schools, lecturing students against bullying and easing curriculum requirements to reduce pressure.

But the issue came to light again following a series of student suicides linked to bullying.

The ministry will enhance counseling programs to respond to bullying, the official said.

（Mainichi Japan） November 16, 2007

Key to Graph -- Grey: High Schools / Dark Blue: Junior High Schools / Light Blue: Primary Schools / Red: Total. The left side shows cases in 10s of thousands. Years are at the bottom.

Survey finds nearly 125,000 cases of bullying at schools in fiscal 2006

The Asahi Shimbun
November 16, 2007
Source: http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200711160179.html

A total of 124,898 cases of bullying, ranging from nasty e-mail messages to physical assaults, were confirmed at elementary through senior high schools across the nation in fiscal 2006, an education ministry survey showed.

The figure was about 6.2 times larger than 20,143 in fiscal 2005, but the ministry said the sharp increase does not mean the actual situation surrounding students has worsened.

The ministry attributed the high figure to changes in survey methods, including the definition of bullying, as well as the attitudes of school administrators toward bullying.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology released the results of the survey on Thursday.

The ministry changed the way surveys are conducted in response to two cases that surfaced in October 2006 in which an elementary school girl in Takigawa, Hokkaido, and a junior high school boy in Chikuzen, Fukuoka Prefecture, committed suicide after being bullied.

In the Hokkaido incident, the education board did not recognize the acts against the girl as bullying. In the Fukuoka Prefecture case, a teacher was found responsible for encouraging bullying against the boy.

In surveys until fiscal 2005, the ministry defined bullying as continuous, one-sided, physical and mental attacks that cause serious pain to victims weaker than the attackers.

In the latest survey, the ministry deleted the expressions "continuous" and "one-sided," resulting in a larger number of bullying cases.

The latest survey included about 2,500 national and private schools for the first time, in addition to municipal and prefectural schools.

The ministry also required schools to have students answer questionnaires and take other steps to directly field the students' opinions.

The latest survey found at least one bullying case at each of 22,159 elementary, junior high and senior high schools and other special-purpose schools, or 55 percent of all schools surveyed.

The ministry said 101,089 of the cases, or about 81 percent of the total, have been resolved.

About 60,897 bullying cases took place at elementary schools in fiscal 2006, about 12 times the figure in the fiscal 2005 survey.

The number of cases at junior high schools quadrupled to 51,310, while the number at high schools increased sixfold to 12,307 cases.

At schools for physically and mentally impaired students and other special schools, 384 cases were confirmed, five times higher than the figure in fiscal 2005.

Cases of teasing and ridicule accounted for 66 percent of all cases, while victims were ostracized or neglected in 25 percent of the cases.

Insults through personal computers and cellphones accounted for 4 percent of the total.

The number of bullying cases differed considerably among prefectures.

In Kumamoto Prefecture, 11,205 cases were found, about 125 times more than the previous year's figure and accounting for nearly 10 percent of the nationwide total.

Kumamoto Prefecture had 50.3 cases of bullying per 1,000 students, the highest ratio in the nation.

Fukui, Gifu, Ishikawa and Oita prefectures followed Kumamoto in term of percentages.

The smallest rate, of 2.1 cases per 1,000 students, was recorded in Tottori Prefecture.

The ministry said the wide discrepancy is due partly to the differences in surveying methods.

The latest survey also found a record number--44,621--of violent incidents by students.

There were 7,049 cases involving violence in Kanagawa Prefecture and 5,816 cases in Osaka Prefecture, collectively accounting for nearly 30 percent of the nationwide total. (IHT/Asahi: November 16, 2007)

Bullying up by six times under new poll criteria

The Japan Times
Friday, Nov. 16, 2007
Source: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20071116a5.html

Kyodo News--Elementary, junior high and high schools nationwide saw 124,898 bullying cases in fiscal 2006, up 6.2 times from 2005, an education ministry survey showed Thursday.

The huge year-on-year increase is mainly attributed to the ministry's change of emphasis, in which it included cases reported by victims as well as those reported by schools, and its inclusion of private and other schools not subject to earlier polls. The change came in the wake of a spate of youth suicides last year.

In fiscal 2006, which ended last March, six students killed themselves allegedly after being bullied, according to the survey.

Bullying cases numbered 20,143 in fiscal 2005, according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, which through that study only covered municipal government-run schools. The current tally includes a small number of central government-run schools as well as private institutions.

Cases included in the latest survey were those cited by victims as well as those only acknowledged by schools.

Of the 124,898 cases, 101,089 had been resolved, the survey said.

Regarding the huge spike in the number, a ministry official said, "Although we accept the number sincerely, it's a result of schools coming to grips with many bullying cases and making efforts to resolve them."

Experts, however, believe the official tally falls short of the reality.

Fiscal 2006 saw 133 public school students commit suicide, reflecting an increase of 30 over the previous year. With national and private schools included, the total came to 171 students.

The Japan Times
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