Pressure to succeed fuels bullying in Japan's schools

Published on Friday 21 November 2008 21:02

CASES of violence and bullying among Japanese school students have hit a record high over the past year.

Figures released yesterday show that the number of reported cases jumped 18 per cent to nearly 53,000.

Experts have linked the rise to increasing stress levels among children who are pushed to excel in their studies and also join a raft of extracurricular and after school activities.

An education ministry spokesman said: "We heard from school boards that children cannot control their emotions and there is a decline in their moral values as well as the lack of their ability to communicate well."

Bullying at schools, ranging from banter to beating, has long been a problem in Japan.

Technology comes into play, with cases of bullying e-mails sent via mobile phones rising by 1,000 cases to nearly 5,900 incidents in the past year.

However, anti-bullying campaigners have played down the extent of hi-tech intimidation.

Kenjiro Kubo, who heads a non-profit group that helps bullied students, said: "Students do not want to leave any evidence of bullying, so online bullying is still not the main problem."

The number of cases involving primary school children, jumped 37 per cent to 5,214 incidents to March 2008.

The ministry added that the 101,000 cases found at Japan's 40,000 schools was too high.