No. of reported school bullying cases reaches record high 198,108

It all boils down to the theory of evolution and natural selection, the strong (physically and mentally) dominate the weak, not only with physical violence, but psychological manipulation and abuse. One cannot be rid of it, it is in our DNA. It's all very well to say and to try to do something about it, in the short and medium terms it may even have an effect. But we will never be completely free of bullying.

People need to stand up for themselves & others. Bullying is cool.

Bullying has been to the decrease lately. It is not saying more bullying incidents are happening but more children are standing up and take charge against bullying. Higher numbers mean higher awareness.

How can you justify the first sentence? While the rest of your statements are accurate, a higher reporting rate does not automatically mean less actual bullying.

200,000 Cases in a population of 100 million. Since America has 300 million people, that would be around 600,000 cases of bullying.

And anyone who knows anything about America would know that 600,000 cases of bullying is ideal compared to how much bullying goes on. So 200,000 in terms of their population is impressively low

A few lawsuits placed on parents of bullies, teachers that allow it or do it and schools would bring this out oif control madness under control quickly.

@Akkio I sense a lot of real pain there. But let me say that there is a lot that can be done that is not being done. In fact, I'd say very few substantive changes are being attempted. Let me also say that the police can do very little to change "culture" of the education system. There are alternative ways of education, communication and learning. Please don't be fooled into thinking that this is the only possible world. There is a lot out there even though it doesn't seem like it because Japan is so insular and insulated. I think we owe it to the young people and to the next generation not to give up. And one more thing: people change.

Yeah, not a big fan of bullying either. And because of being bullied I am now a sadist and I do love verbally and sometimes physically abusing bullies. Revenge is sweet~ And before people say "Oh, you're no better" I have to say "Those who shoot must prepare to be shot". Reporting is good IF something can be done. And I'm sure most teachers don't give a damn and let the idiots off with a warning which is why the teachers sometimes have to be cough convinced. And fighting back whether standing up for yourself or reporting the bullies isn't always a good and safe option and that's when even the police should get involved (and they don't always get involved... -.-') Well at least the little that can actually be done is being done. Too many idiotic pieces of human trash in this world. And those with the authority should do what they can in order to keep the bullying victims safe and the human trash punished. They usually tell the bully who reported them -.- damn teachers are so useless sometimes.

Restorative Justice, Peer Mediation, Conflict Resolution = increased empathy skills/empowerment and recognition. It's hard to keep banging your head against the wall and expect different results. Educators can advocate for different directions here. But it's a long hard road to convince institutions to change business as usual. There needs to be a tipping point where people start to believe in alternatives. We're not there yet.

The guy should have been prosecuted. Oh and lets not forget the women`s judo team at the London olympics getting slapped around.

@Disillusioned,

Apparently that guy was fired.

The fact that more and more cases are coming to light, as in, being reported and responded to, is a HUGE FIRST step. Good on ya Japan, I hope you only move forward from here on in trying to eradicate this problem that is not only confined to Japan, but to every part of the world.

When i was a kid we never had that bullying thing, we had our fights at school and following day were best buddies again. We dont had any iDevice taking care of our lives. Where just kids playing with freedom being a kid!

This is not a success, it's an incredible failure. Nearly 30 years of "talking" and throwing "experts" and money at this endemic Japanese societal sickness has accomplished virtually nothing. Think about it: for a lot of the affected teachers and parents, "attention" has been on this problem their whole lives or nearly so. Tallying nearly 200,000 reported cases in 2013 is really nothing to celebrate.

It seems to be the fad right now! I'm offering myself as a bodyguard for any student being bullied for a fair price! So before they can bully you they first have to get past me.

Not only the victims of bullying but you must address from the perspective that bystanders and perpetrators are also victims or it will not lead to a fundamental solution.

Bullying is a worldwide problem that seems to stain the lives of every generation of children and yet we fail, as a society, to adequately deal and route out the core problem. How many more lives must be ruined before we get a handle on this damaging practice? Bullying is like a disease, if you let it take hold of it can ruin lives. That's why schools, communities, and friends need to take action at the first sign of trouble. Otherwise sustained bullying can have a long term damaging effect on the psychology of those on the receiving end.

Just for those who have forgotten, here is the video of the psycho sports teacher beating down on a student. Unfortunately, there are many of these kinds of videos floating around. Some from Japan, but most from other parts of Asia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1L3THxuA18

One of my students is a high school teacher. He himself gets bullied from monster parents. Easy to see how this behavior trickles down to their children. He also mentioned that when a student decides to defy him or act up against him, there isn't much he can actually do, aside from ask them to stop, in which most cases, they don't. I really sympathize with him.

To the people saying this is a bad thing, NO.

On the contrary, this is very bad. I suspect that, even though reported cases are up, there is a large number of unreported incidents and that would make the total number of bullying cases far greater.

As Dis said above: 196 kids committing suicide are 196 too many. Very tragic that so many children see suicide as the only way out. This is something that Japan should deal with but I am sure they will do their usual song-and-dance routine and put the lid on...

To the people saying this is a bad thing, NO. The number of reported bullying cases going up is a VERY good thing, because for the first time ever people are actually reporting them. You can't fix what you ignore.. The bullying issue has always been bad, but at least now people are starting to realize it needs to be fixed.

In a group oriented country like this one, I can't imagine the situation getting better. If you are not a member of a the group, you are an outsider and that can make you liable to criticism and or attack. As we've heard so many times before, the nail that sticks out will get hammered down, which means groups will try and make you conform to their standards. If that black sheep accepts it, they can become accepted. However, for people who don't want to become a member of certain groups but are forced to associate with them (e.g. schools, marriage or workplaces) or if the group thinks that person is not a suitable member, the outcome will not be pleasant.

I really can't see any change in this situation until there is a cultural change in this country.

So, 15% of kids reported bullying. I wonder if that includes bullying from teachers as well. That figure of 196 kids commuting suicide is 196 too many.

Bullying is a world wide epidemic, but shocking to see how bad it is in Japan also.

World morals going down.