Judge orders 3 bullies, parents to pay compensation to victim

Yes- now let's see some prison time.

That's only 700,000 each. Not really that much of a punishment for them. They're over 20 now - name them.

Well it is a small compensantion, but it is the first time that i see the Japanese court acknowledging that there is a Bullying problem. A step in the right direction.

will many cry bully to be compensated now that there is a precedent?

Attorneys will probably take a third as a contingency fee (straight hourly rates would be too expensive), so the victim will probably get 1.3m yen. That's not a lot of money, particularly if he missed a year of school. Still, he could take a picture of himself holding all that money folding fan style, caption 'thanks bullies' and post it on reddit. Small victories are still victories. @torosushi - you have a point and that is a risk of awarding damages for bullying. But Japanese judges are pretty conservative and the burden of proof is still on the plaintiff to establish intentional infliction of emotional distress or whatever the Japaense equivalent is under the Civil Code. Nearly all judges would throw out a claim for damages of 10M yen if some kid gets called "baka" at school and runs crying to court. Personally I would have awarded the damages here because the parents should have known. But unless these parents are particularly rich I'm surpised they didn't sue the school and board of education.

About $20K (US) for the young life needless wasted. So now we know the value of a human life to a Japanese court!

And right into mom's bank a account? I hope not.

So now we know the value of a human life to a Japanese court!

I would not go so far as to say that. Thankfully, the bullied boy did not commit suicide.

It's about time for victims to stand up against bullying. I hope this news is being heard all throughout Japan/world.

awesome, hope it sets a good precedent!

about time punitive damages get added to the mix

Money cannot always make things right especially if you have been through something like this.

700000 is enough. You think the parents just have that laying around? They'll make sure thier kids don't do that again.

Is it really a good idea to send the message to kids that bullying should be settled in court? What are Japanese schools doing to correct this sort of behavior? Did the schools simply not investigate a 14 month absence? The boy in this case couldn't possibly be the only one those boys subjected to bullying.

Outrageous decision. It's slightly better than what usually happens i.e blaming the victim for allowing himself to be bullied, but responsibility here lies squarely at the feet of the school. They were supposed to be the adults in charge and they should have suspended, expelled or otherwise removed the bullies so the victim could attend classes. They let this happen and they sat on their hands while one of their students felt so marginalised that he couldn't even face going to school. And for over a year.

Now the bullies' parents get fined, they go home and bully their kids and the bullies go out and find a new target. Nobody wins.

There should be a national record of the bullies's act, something that will follow them during all their education time, more than 3 records printed in red and you are out, parents will be aware of the gravity of the situation as the situation is progressing toward the exclusion.

Remuneration for bullying? That's an interesting precedent.

Ridiculous. Humans are a herd mammal, social ranking happens naturally and this enforced "niceness" is a kneejerk reaction confusing bullying and oersonal persecution.Bullying victims should be taught how to deal with it not run to courts for financial gain. Hello litigious Japanb goidbye common sense.