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Bullied teenage boy jumps from school window in Yamagata

13 Comments

A schoolboy who was injured after jumping out of a window at school may have been the victim of bullying, an investigation has found.

According to school authorities in Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture, the findings come from a questionnaire that was circulated to staff and selected students after a 16-year-old boy jumped from a fourth floor window of a public school on Aug 23, TBS reported Wednesday. Police say the teenager was left unconscious following the fall, but has since regained consciousness.

In a statement to media, the school principal said: "The results of the questionnaire suggest that, among other causes, bullying may have been a contributing factor." He said the boy had been the victim of mockery and had been subjected to "play fighting involving wrestling moves," TBS reported.

The school has announced plans to survey all students again in an attempt to ascertain the scale of the problem. It plans to make the results of the questionnaire public in mid-September.

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13 Comments
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So will JT follow up on the results in mid Sept?

The parents have failed. If they gave a rats ass about any of the bullying issues there would be much quicker action. It seems parents are more willing to deal with the heartbreak of a dead or hurt child than being tough on the bureaucrats.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

@kaimycahl I assume they will only do this after the burial!

A crucial step is teaching students to concentrate and pay attention to details. Then he wouldn't be dead yet.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

So wait!!!! One minute the school will send out a survey to all students again in an attempt to ascertain the scale of the problem. It plans to make the results of the questionnaire public in mid-September. I assume they will only do this after the burial! What a joke!!!! This is like asking how many students plan to bully others.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Publicly defame bullying. Explain how it makes the bulliers look weak and insecure. Attend to the problem at it's source.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I feel we should give the staff the benefit of the doubt, i am sure they do care and are doing their best. It is not easy to deal with this sort of thing at any level and takes patience and bravery and strength. thanks for keeping this story reported on Japan Today.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Stupid principal and teachers are completely out of touch with the students

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The response of the school authorities is always laughable. They pretend to care, but in reality they actually don't.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Get ready for a bunch of people to feign surprise.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Was this not resolved with the add campaign? And a series of meetings and questionnaires? Was this child not told? Jumping from the 4th floor, must have been better then staying inside. Bulling a contributing factor? Really have to wonder about teachers awareness.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Keep piling on the survey's that will surelly solve the problem.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Ah, so obviously the recently innacted anti-bullying campaign is working. NOT! Who was he being bullied by? His classmates or his teachers?

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Good to see this is being reported as a jumper not a faller as some of these cases have been reported, falling is usually not a deliberate act, where as jumping is

5 ( +6 / -1 )

In a statement to media, the school principal said: “The results of the questionnaire suggest that, among other causes, bullying may have been a contributing factor.” He said the boy had been the victim of mockery and had been subjected to “play fighting involving wrestling moves"

a questionnaire was not needed since everyone including teachers was no doubt aware of the bullying. This is another time-honored tradition in Japanese schools which make the staff look like they are trying to "get to the bottom of things" "play-fighting" is another buzzword meaning "being assaulted"
9 ( +10 / -2 )

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