Woman arrested after bursting into classroom with knife

hope she will not be bullied by police.

her son wont be bullied now....

hope she will not be bullied by police

I hope she is bullied by the police...badly.

her son wont be bullied now....

What, like saying '...your mother's a nutter', stuff like that? Sure, that won't be happening, will it?

If this is what it takes to get the attention of 'staff', maybe 'staff' should pay closer attention to complaints.

I hope someone is checking on the welfare of the child. Home doesn't look like a safe place for him either.

If they know mom carries a knife, I think they wil stop bullying him. Go to school kid, you can now become one of the chosen ones.

I am against her entering a classroom with a knife. I am for her starting the Japanese version of MTV's Bully Beatdown and call up a K1 fighter to be her assistant.

So.... she took a knife... into a classroom full of kids... to complain about bullying after she didn't follow her own set schedule?

Simply not enough information here. I don't approve of this woman taking the law into her own hands, but imagine if, for example, the "bullying" in question was the teacher molesting her son and she found out that morning. I can understand how a parent would want to head down to the school and castrate the teacher without delay.

I have to agree with borscht and DudeDeuce - It seems not much has been done to face the bullying problem... It isn't surprising then that in desperation, one turns to "bullying" (or at least "scaring") the school staff ...

Maybe not all schools pay attention to bullying so well but it seems like this school was trying to reach out to that family. The school was trying to offer her a chance to talk about her son at a meeting but she chose to blow that off to do a more extreme,dangerous and crazy act that will make it harder for her to get her concerns across. I hope someone helps that poor boy out because it seems that his mother may not be capable of raising this boy.

@sakurala Perhaps the gripe has to do with the meeting being about "her son’s absence" (her son's problem) rather than "the bullying of her son" (the school and bullies' problem, and the most obvious cause of said absence).

Wow! Talk about a monster parent!

Definitely not enough information. I don't agree with what she did (especially if there were kids in the classroom). Sounds to me like there's a disconnect - school wants to know why her son is going to school and she wants to why the school isn't addressing the bullying.

Kazuaki: But you would think that she would go to the meeting and inform them that her son's absence is due to bullying. At least that way they can start a dialogue about the issue. Maybe the teacher was unaware of the impact or depth of the bullying. Remember, not all bullying occurs at schools and teachers cannot be everywhere at once. I think that they way the mother acted was very irresponsible and (boarderline?) criminal.

She just wanted to bully the bully kid, not kill him, cut the teacher a little..

If she was that concerned about her child being bullied, you think it would have been important to visit on Tuesday?

I wouldn't call her a monster parent. Teachers and local kuyakusho don't listen about bullying.

There was a survey passed around after the last kid decided to off himself because of bullying. The teachers in my child's school made kids erase anything that mentioned bullying. They kuyakusho was notified and nothing became of it.

I'll need to have a talk with the wife. She isn't known for knife waving, but she may implode with the bullying that is happening at our school and the establishment's refusal to do anything about it and actively hiding it.

Communication is fine unless one side isn't listening, which is often the case with the local schools.

I would've have done the same thing. This woman is a great parent. No mother will allow her child to be bullied. Great job Mommy! A lot of children commit suicide because they are being bullied and most of the parent didn't had any clue until their children dies.

Discussion is hard in this country. I totally understand her frustration, but can't condone her coming to school with a knife - yet I want to. Why not a bank or government ministry or TEPCO?

That was the best, easiest and fastest way to address the problem. Meetings with the school is useless. The teachers will just listen to the mother, then what?, make a boring speech in class about the incident? . Teachers doesn't have much control when the kids are left by themselves( during lunch breaks, end of class etc). Pathetic!

The mother's act probably isn't going to do much change . Maybe her son will get more bullying from now on, but at least the students had some better wake up call than some teacher's inefficient class management.

Whilst I sympathize with her for not wanting to go into the school and listen to their excuses and meaningless drivel, and I know the heartbreak of having your child bullied at school, going in with a knife was not going to help anyone. She was wrong to threaten the teacher and other children in such a potentially dangerous way. Who was to know what her intent was? Whilst she may have only intended to scare, in the end she presented as an out of control person with a knife in a room of children.

She needed to either move the child to a new school, teach him herself, or give him tools to make him "bully proof" if she hadn't the imagination or desire to find a better way than continuing with the school he was attending. She was an idiot at best. Its all well and good causing a scene, but what good will it have done her, her child, or the other people she affected.

we clearly need a lot more detail about this. I agree that violence on violence is wrong and using a knife will just make things a lot worse for mom and child but if its true and the sons has been abused and they have been ignored then I cant blame her, any parent wouldn't.

Whilst she may have only intended to scare

Which is exactly what she did ! And she couldn't have been that much "out of control" since NO-ONE was hurt...

She needed to either move the child to a new school

and who's to know if the same thing wouldn't happen again ? School bullying is rampant in Japan where very little is done to stop it.

teach him herself,

"Home schooling" is all very well and fine if you know EVERYTHING you need to teach your child. Which supposes she knows EVERYTHING he should be taught ? There aren't too many human beings that know EVERYTHING ! Not to mention a great lack of "getting on with other children" or "making new friends" or just "social behaviour" in general... I really don't think "Home Schooling" is a good solution.

weeeeelllll, i guess it's better than not having parents that cared for your well being. that being said, the poor kid probably won't be seeing her for several years.

Anyone who walks into a classroom menacingly wielding a knife has mental problems.

if its true and the sons has been abused and they have been ignored then I cant blame her, any parent wouldn't.

really? how would you feel if your kid had been in that classroom when she burst in waving a knife?

Weapons and drugs are always prohibited in schools! She really lost her mind and was in the wrong. A very good example of "how not" to handle this situation. Epic Fail!

I condemned her bizzarre reactions entering a classroom with a knife. But sometimes, it takes this kind of actions for the school authorities to listen and pay attention to problems of bullying. We have read many times in the news about bullying in schools and negative actions by school principals and authorities and the most to be concerned, the Minister of Japan Education. The mother must have been VEEEEERY FED up with the school authorities for not taking actions and have gone wild. She could have burst into the Principal's office and scare the shit out of him/her.

Yes, that will do it. But missing some important facts in this story. How long was the "knife"? A little pen knife, or a super-special-sushi knife? A dinky 100-yen kitchen knife or a full bladed Bowie knife?

The knife had a 16cm blade.

bullying; intolerable teacher's lack of intervention; shameful behavior modeled by mother in front of impressionable youth; desperate -how do these come together to make sense?

Not the best thing to do, imagine how the other kids would have felt. I take it it is not an offense to carry a knife in public in Japan without reasonable excuse?

How does the Japanese media report bullying incidents? Is there much investigative journalism done there?

Lots of people already blaming the school and teachers for this "bullying". Even thought that this kid is a thug who knows that using bullying as an excuse for not going to school with his mom might let him get away with it? Based on the insane mom, it seems like this family has issues. I doubt bullying is really the issue here. Imagine being "raised" by a women who thinks brandishing a knife at school is okay.

Oh and MOM missed a meeting with the teachers... Doesn't that tell you lot anything?

Oh and MOM missed a meeting with the teachers... Doesn't that tell you lot anything?

She went to the school with her husband and son on Tuesday for the meeting with a female teacher. Before the meeting started, she left the husband and son and went to the son's classroom with the knife. She evidently wanted to show them she meant 'business'. Beyond the fact that this woman is in all probability unhinged, what do you think this should tell us?

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20121129-OYT1T00091.htm?from=ylist

Even thought that this kid is a thug who knows that using bullying as an excuse for not going to school with his mom might let him get away with it?

How do you know this exactly?

Slum, how do you know exactly that the kid was bullied? Which is my point exactly. Everyone jumps on the teachers here but yet fails to look at the parents.

And even IF the kid was bullied, mom bringing a knife and "meaning business" is no way to behave. With a crazy mom like that is it any wonder the kid MIGHT be getting picked on?

Sorry, I don't get your angle. There is no excuse for bullying, crazy mom or not.

how do you know exactly that the kid was bullied?

I don't. I do marvel at your baseless claim that the kid is a 'thug', however. Don't you think you are jumping to conclusions?

"My son's being bullied, so I'm going to escalate things by threatening to take someone's life."

ehh... Good luck with that plan of action.

So if the school didn't know why the kid was out of school? Did they even know the kid was being bullied? What happen to home visits?

@sakurala I don't need to live in Japan to know that Schools all the world over will respond like this: a) We definitely don't have bullies. b) Even if we do, he still must come to school.

See also reply below.

@slumdog Ah, now that's a new development. But not really enough to change the scenario.

Sure, your scenario that he is a thug is not yet contradicted, but neither is it supported by the evidence at hand. All we know is that he is an absentee, his mom claims he is bullied, and she winds up heading into the classroom with a knife.

Moral-legalistically, this is a case of self-help. Your disgust is due to the fact we are indoctrinated from young not to self-help. Our rights to even self-defense are restricted. For example, officially, when you are being bullied in school, you are not supposed to take a knife and ambush the bullies (self-help edging to self-defense) - you are supposed to tell the teacher (like that helps...)

But the moral justification for restricting self-help is that the government will take over that role with professionals that will be more cool-headed and produce better outcomes than letting amateur civilians use their own methods.

The average school generally does not take decisive measures against bullies. Thus, that justification is lost.

@sakurala I don't need to live in Japan to know that Schools all the world over will respond like this: a) We definitely don't have bullies. b) Even if we do, he still must come to school.

I have never heard of anything like this anywhere else in the world. In most countries they would at least try to do something to stop bullying, instead of denying that it exists and sweep it under the rug.

I'm afraid that denial of bullying is mostly a Japanese problem. Japan has a very weak legal protection of children.

I'm afraid that denial of bullying is mostly a Japanese problem. Japan has a very weak legal protection of children.

actually denial of most things is mostly a japanese problem...or dodging..

and its their legal overprotection of children that allows them kids to exploit the system since they almost never get tried as adults for any number of heinous crimes

Open and close case with this woman.

a. She broke Japanese law with carrying a 16 cm knife in public-premeditated crime;

b. burst into a classroom with children with a weapon - criminal trespassing;

c. quoted saying " she means business while terrifying the children in the classroom" - great role model for her son to follow in the future;

d. missed the meeting with the father and son - irresponsible parent

-- Priceless --

As far as the son, I feel bad if he has been bullied, but the parents should have followed protocol to address the problem. Hopefully the son will not be to embarrassed from the mothers issues. Hopefully mom gets prosecuted by the police for her actions. Hopefully the husband can restrain his wife from making future mistakes that would adversely affect their sons mental well being.

She deserves the strong arm of the law. A weapon taken to a school to threaten childern is dangerous

GOOD job mom i like the way u did ....