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The government has announced revisions to its suicide prevention guidelines in an attempt to stem a rise in suicides and attempted suicides among young people.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told a news conference that the revision in the guidelines, which follows several high-profile school bullying cases, is the first in five years, Fuji TV reported Wednesday.
Among the new guidelines is the statement, "Bullying can happen to any child in any school and should be dealt with openly by schools and local authorities, not covered up."
The guidelines also deal with cases in which third party investigations are necessary because bereaved families of children who commit suicide due to bullying do not wish their child's school or Board of Education to investigate the situation.
The cabinet also plans to introduce a 24-hour telephone support service as well as easy access, by smartphone or desktop computer, to support and information for victims of bullying, Fuji reported.
© Japan Today
11 Comments
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AlternateUniverse
Its not really about bullying. Its about a lack of acceptance and a lack of freedom to pursue their personal dreams and desires. A child or teen who has those things can brush off bullying, and also won't run away from home.
Trouble is, even the foreigners posting here generally have trouble accepting what acceptance can mean, and what dreams and desires young people have. The parents and boards of education here are even less open minded.
Probie
What they mean is, they'll get some cartoons drawn and get a poster someone from AKB to stand with their fist clenched and that'll be it.
smithinjapan
So they decided the AKB48 'G8Keeper' thing wasn't all that hot an idea after all?
saidani
The government has been "fixing" this problem since 1985 when 22,000 cases were recorded in junior high and high schools.
From a New York Times article in 1993...http://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/03/world/student-s-killing-displays-dark-side-of-japan-schools.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
Reported cases of bullying plummeted to about 7,200 in 1991, the last year for which statistics are available. But almost no one believes the numbers. Students and teachers alike say the schools, under pressure to show that they are attacking the problem, are simply hushing up all but the most egregious cases.
So....nearly 20 years later.....
GenConsensus
"Great the guidelines are revised. Problem solved!" said no one ever.
gogogo
Where are the guidelines? Don't you think you should have printed them?
Perhaps a link please to the new guidelines?
Frungy
As far as I'm concerned guideline number 2 should be, "Curriculum revision to allow Elementary, JHS and SHS students a full 8 hours sleep every night", and number 3 should be, "Removal of useless tests that just stress the students for no purpose". Of course guideline number 1 should be, "Zero tolerance for any bullying, with mandatory suspensions for any child who engages in bullying".
There is bullying in every country, and in most countries it is grossly under-reported. I was bullied myself as a kid, and it wasn't pleasant, but I survived. The think that makes Japan different is that these kids are so stressed and sleep-deprived that they're simply unable to cope with even the smallest bumps in the road of life.
bruinfan
Yes. Where are these guidelines?
Bluebris
OK, so that's the suicide and bullying problems solved. What's next on the agenda?
the-grouch
Yeah! Just don't kill yourself! Go and defend yourself and be a man and face it with guts and glory. Pussy.
BertieWooster
Why don't they take all the bullies, ex-yakuza and bosozoku, and enlist them in the Japanese "self defense" forces?
It would give them an outlet for their aggression.
There is the added benefit that they could send the Americans home and no one would notice the difference.