120 child mistreatment cases reported at nurseries in 10 years in Japan: survey

When we were looking for places to drop our kids off during the day, we saw good nurseries and kindergartens and bad ones. The differences were not subtle. Best to keep your eyes open and ask other parents. Bad news gets around.

I would watch out for the overcrowded daycares that are understaffed.

The legal age of sexual consent is 18 years.

Let’s just say the majority of these kindergartens and day care centers owners and staff aren’t exactly well versed in the knowledge of early child psychology and development. Many of the mostly female employees are extremely hard working though, too hard in most cases. You get the feeling that quite a few of these ‘care centres’’ are run by some semi-sadistic entitled eraisan too, who rides his/her staff to the bone and with an iron fist. It can be quite a cash cow, if you know how to milk it. Have been to some awesome ones but been to a few that felt just off. You can tell my the nervousness of the junior staff. Weird vibes, like something out of the shining! Redrum!

Over 10 years? It’s probably much, much higher than that.

@Kamiyachi

I think you misunderstand me, maybe.

My children were born in Japan, and went to both preschool and elementary school there. Their mum is also Japanese.

Neither of us liked the educational style, rules or quality of schooling. We ended up transferring them to international school before getting out and returning to my homeland in Europe. I only have to see the development of my children's social skills since leaving Japan to know there is a gulf in the quality of education/life between Japan and Europe.

Every case is one too much, of course, but in relation to the country and population size it’s ‘only’ one case per month on average. There have been other times and places on this planet and still are, when such problems were the daily norm and no one cared.

@ Zizi @ @nondualism So your expectation of going to Japan and having your kids to have a learning environment equivalent to the "European" school you now have them in? You can't fault Japan you have to fault yourself, it called adaptation you can't expect a system to change for you. Its great that you realized that "European" schools were not "good enough" for your children you had a choice some people don't and they deal with it. As far as the lifestyle "over stressed people taking their frustrations out on others with passive aggressiveness" be thankful you are in a position to make change and that is high tail it out. For some people with no choice at all have to deal with it like it or not!

Disgraceful.

Am so glad that I got my kids out of Japan early enough and into a forward thinking, creative European school back home.

Very valid points.

I enjoyed certain points about Japan, but it got irritating in the end. Too grey in the cities, overworked, overstressed people taking their frustrations out on others with passive aggressiveness.

Unfortunately, kids in these schools seem to be getting the brunt. Appalling

I think that the nurseries and kindergartens in Japan are leading the world. Children are very polite and well mannered in Japan. The staff are excellent.

It doesn't just happen at nurseries it happens at elementary schools, too.

My child was being bullied at the school, I took the principal to the school board and the school boards do nothing in this country. A Japanese child at my child's school the next year was being bullied that mother complained to the school board and she moved away, and that principal was removed to another school. He was a horrible man, rude and condescending and always calling me "mama" no matter how many times I told him not to. And the Japanese government wants people to have more children, they need to fix the system for the children are here.

Child care centres have rules that you allow at home. Like playing with nerf guns. but are not allow in child care centres. Ok I can understand the reasoning, But these rules really cause confusion to the children. Recently after picking up my grandchild form childcare. He ask this. Today police visit school pop and he had a real gun I ask can I play with it but not allow to. But Pop that was a real gun and I not allow to play nerf guns. Why Pop. I reply. If was my school son I would allow nerf gun play. That was my best reply I could came up with at that moment. So their own rules could be analyse mistreatment.

Look at the best-seller magazines: fashion magazines of underage girls in bikini.

Look at the beauty standard: women with girl faccions and childdish voice.

Look at the legal age of consent: 13 years old.

Japan is a fairyland for child molesters.

@nondualism

Very valid points.

I enjoyed certain points about Japan, but it got irritating in the end. Too grey in the cities, overworked, overstressed people taking their frustrations out on others with passive aggressiveness.

Unfortunately, kids in these schools seem to be getting the brunt. Appalling

...reported. Sigh.

My friend worked in one. There was more than ten kids mistreated. They fired the Japanese staff but kept the Philippines staff because they were on a lower salary.

Disgraceful.

Am so glad that I got my kids out of Japan early enough and into a forward thinking, creative European school back home.

120 cases in 10 years, meaning an average of 1 a month, throughout the entire country.

I have a REALLY hard time accepting this as anywhere being even close to accurate. I guess they don't count the case of the child who died, left in the vehicle by the director or one such facility, nor other cases that actually made the news.

120???

That's probably around 1% of the actual figures!

I taught a few different ones and was very disappointed with the treatment of kids and refused to go back as it was pretty ugly to see!