Parents of boy who killed himself sue 11 classmates, city for damages

The parents have filed suit against 11 classmates and Kadoma City, claiming that the school and their son's homeroom teacher did not take any action against the bullying.

School inaction caused this, hope parents win for this!

Here's what will happen. 1) The board and school will once again pretend they didn't have any idea of the problem, and they will work hard to prevent such incidents in the future. 2) They'll be forced to admit they did know and will say they are going to work to ensure it does not happen again. 3) The teacher in question will leave his/her job if they haven't already, and a key BOE member will step down. They'll all say they are working hard to ensure it never happens again. 4) The court will admit that it was bullying, but find the school and other students innocent, but also demand ¥100,000 in compensation (or even less). Then it'll be rinse and repeat. The teachers and Boards are so busy just hoping the problems will go away that it takes corpses before they pretend they'll act.

Exactly. Nothing significant is going to happen. Only 45° degrees bowing from the other kids parents and most likely some mediocre compensation money for the parents.

However the social root cause will still remain the same, with teachers and school taking zero actions in the future cases.

Bullying of any kind should be treated as a serious police crime. Even kids expelled and parents seriously fined are too easy sentences for such a hideous crime.

Only 45° degrees bowing from the other kids 

in this a literal translation ? It’s very desciptive?

I agree with you by the way.

This is so tragic. I’m curious, what usually happens in these cases ? Do schools normally have interventions over this stuff ?

This will likely continue until one day, one of the parents takes justice into their own hands. Then everyone will wonder again how this could happen.

The school and their son's homeroom teacher did not take any action against the bullying

That's shocking. Never thought that would happen in Japan.

The actions of the students who committed this crime were extremely despicable and showed no sense of shame. We, the family members, and my son's friends will never forgive those who committed the crime

That's wimpy. Find their phone numbers and call them around 3 AM every morning to ask them, "Why did your child kill my son?"

This will likely continue until one day, one of the parents takes justice into their own hands. Then everyone will wonder again how this could happen.

Vigilante Japanese, I seriously doubt that because even if they were justified in seeking retribution, they would be arrested and charged severely, the law is very clear in that. You just have to seek out and use the justice system and just deal with it, sad as it all is.

" It is also believed that he had developed an adjustment disorder just before his death."

can anyone translate this all the way into english for me? this may be how 'they' try to shift some of the blame.

As a new parent with a son yet to turn two, I have thought about how I would handle the bullying situation in Japan now that I have been here quite awhile. ALT work was long ago but it also gave me good insight as to the school system and BOE and how they work. And yes, agreed with what everyone says about how it takes a death for somebody to act. Japan is a super REACTIVE country and that is why you only see people at the top apologizing, mostly because there are sooooo many layers of hierarchy that problems voiced from the bottom rarely make their way up. So anyway, knowing this, here's what I'd do:

If my son is bullied and I am aware of it...

I go to the school and request to see the Vice Principal. I tell him or her that the bullying is taking place and they need to be watchful and ensure it doesn't happen again. AND...I will let them know that I have a two strike policy. I will tell the VP that if my son tells me he is still being bullied I will go to the BOE and report the issue there. Making noise higher up the chain would be undesirable by the school so hopefully that threat would be enough.

BUT...I would also tell the VP that after I report the bullying to the Board of Education that if it still continues that I will go bang on the door of the Asahi Shinbun or local news until I receive an audience. No district wants to be in the news for a bullying scandal and hopefully the threat of such action would make them pay attention.

As long as I'm willing to follow through I expect positive results.

Please keep in mind that this is coming from someone who was bullied from elementary school to high school. And the difference with my home country is that we can at least change classrooms and teachers. In Japan, you are stuck with the same people for YEARS. So if you are being bullied you really have no means of escape.

Making noise higher up the chain would be undesirable by the school so hopefully that threat would be enough.

I think your son will be OK with an articulate and informed parent to defend him against any harm. Bullies pick their victims carefully. The weak and the vulnerable have no chance in this society. They are the people I worry about.

The first mistake was allowing their child to use (((Instagram))); the second to use the Korea spy app Line.

The first mistake was allowing their child to use (((Instagram))); the second to use the Korea spy app Line.

Unfortunately one thing that is sure in the comment section is that someone will come and blame the victim.

Bullies make me so cross, especially them kids what do it. Must be how they were brought up or they have a mental defect. I had a mate at school when I was little, relentlessly bullied because he had a hair lip and called horrid names. He stopped going to school and found out later he was so tormented by the bullies that he wouldn’t even leave the house. He had to be home schooled, he didn’t leave his house for over a year after this.

Parents, make sure your kids ain’t being bullied or are bullies themselves. Schools must have a zero tolerance of all forms of bullying and smartphones should be banned on the premises.

I pray they win big. The money won’t bring back their beloved son, however, it will send out a message there will be a cost financially for others.

Unfortunately, few in the schools will take it seriously until a grieving parent snaps and does something terrible. Then. Then school boards around the country will take claims of bullying more seriously.

@falsflagsteve

Really spot on, I genuinely hope this case would set an example to raise awareness about the repercussions of such atrocities. I also agree that bullying is a mental issue since in most cases they show no regret or remorse toward their actions. What a heartbreaking story..

The parents have filed suit against 11 classmates and Kadoma City, claiming that the school and their son's homeroom teacher did not take any action against the bullying.

Exactly. What did the teachers and administrators know and when did they know it?

15 year olds suffer when nothing is wrong.

It's a tough time of life.

There should be someone installed in a school system

to be there for victims of bullies.

They can't turn to parents, or police,

there should be an unthreatening person set up

as a confidant, for bullied young people,

to help them see another perspective...

blue in greenToday 02:25 am JST

to help them see another perspective...

There is no other "perspective" other than a victim is a victim. Action needs to be taken against criminal behavior.

As I suffered bullying in my childhood, I dearly hope his ghost will come back and make the other kid's lives absolutely miserable.

The first mistake was allowing their child to use (((Instagram)))

What's with the triple parentheses?

They're an antisemitic symbol.

”Bullying is a crime

And bullies must be punished hard..

I've done ALT work in Japan and compared to bullying in the Western world and in Southeast Asia, Japanese bullying tends to be more psychological and constant. On the side of the educators, sadly bullying for them just seems to fly past their heads and are too lenient about it, but will bring down the axe on petty things such as dress and grooming standard violations. Japanese is a very draconian society, but tends to focus it on the wrong things, and they love to put on a show for apologizing, but lack the conviction to back it up and change.

I've been bullied during high school and it's never fun. It just changed for me when I stood my ground and beat up my bullies. I don't advocate doing this, but if you're at the end of your rope, you do what needs to be done to get your peace.

I've done ALT work in Japan and compared to bullying in the Western world and in Southeast Asia, Japanese bullying tends to be more psychological and constant

Which makes it hard to take action. Even if you draw a hard line against physical violence, you can only go so hard on kids using their mouths, and even less so if they used them after school hours. And if they restrict their bullying to so-called "ostracism" ... well, you can't force people to associate.

Abuse among school children was commonly observed in the U.S. in the past. Now, it's a common phenomenon observed in Japanese schools. Abuse seems to propagate abroad like a contagious disease

Bullying among school children was commonly observed in U.S. schools in the past. Now, it's a common phenomenon observed in Japanese schools.

Bullying seems to propagate abroad quite easily like a contagious disease. There is no doubt that when the U.S. sneezes, Japan catches a cold.