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Tokyo Electric Power Company has lost a considerable amount of goodwill following last year’s nuclear disaster. While the level of blame that should be placed on the company as a whole is still to be determined, low level employees of the company often face the immediate brunt of the hostility.
It appears now that even the children of TEPCO employees are having to answer for the choices their parents’ employers made by their classmates. But how are elementary school students so up to speed on the nation’s energy situation?
According to one parent who works for TEPCO in Chiba Prefecture, “it’s the influence of morning talk shows with topics critical of TEPCO” which the children watch before going to school.
At school the children blame their classmate by saying “your parents spread radiation” and “you tricked us into thinking the plants were safe.” Other times the children are teased by comments like “if I touch you I’ll get radiation.”
The employee also claims that the verbal abuse was especially strong from female students who would lay guilt on their son for not being able to become mothers in the future or by showing him pictures of abandoned dogs and cats of Fukushima.
It got to the point where the son had to transfer schools and now must keep his parents’ occupation secret.
This incident occurred in an area labeled as a “hotspot” which is an area containing places with high levels of radioactive contamination, so tensions are surely high. However, according to another anonymous TEPCO worker in Tokyo, “it’s the worst when there’s talk about raising the electricity rates” showing how the problem goes beyond radiation affected areas.
The worker claims that children of TEPCO employees are bullied into giving their money to classmates in order to “compensate” for Tokyo Electric’s rate hikes.
“Until now children used to take great pride in having a parent who worked for TEPCO,” they explained. “It’s like having a parent who works for the national railway (JR), airline (JAL) or television station (NHK). Children can easily identify with this line of work, which is unfortunately also how they can get so angry about it.”
Source: Nikkan SPA (Japanese)
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16 Comments
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rranta
From over here in the U.S. A., it looks for all the world that the design worked. what didn't, was the 10 meter high tidal wave. So very sad to see children focus their anger and fear on other children.
catexen
TEPCO has never faced the disaster because the fact is that this nuclear accident is result of their lies and shameful behavior for years. There is no law to judge their crime in this country. I don't know whether the parent's claim is truth or not. But I suspect that TEPCO and the authorities want them got more tragedy.
just-a-bigguy
Here we see future Japanese politicians and their political skills in the 'cradle'!
Guru29
Bullying using stupid excuses like this will only happen in Japan. No where else.
Ronald F Stark
Japanese culture at it's best!
Thomas Anderson
Japan really needs to stop picking on defenseless folks.
However it is ironic that these kids used to boast about the fact that their parents worked for TEPCO, and now they have to be burdened with the other side of having to be associated with TEPCO.
lostrune2
The bullies are just using the rate hike as an excuse to extort lunch money from their victims.
Cricky
It's a sad story, families being tarred with one brush. Cutting off their power? Wouldn't that be corporate bullying?
basroil
This abuse needs to stop, starting with suing all the teachers involved in this failure.
TEPCO should also make it clear to people that this is unacceptable by terminating their electrical contracts on the spot. They should be proactive at protecting their employees from idiots who wish to do them harm.
Cos
The parents (=the TEPCO) employees should go to speak to classes, answer the questions of other kids and their own kids. Like their bosses, TEPCO execs should have come to discuss with Japanese people so many times. It's bad to send the unconcerned kids at the forefront on their own.
hatsoff
Taking it out on the children is wrong, wrong, wrong. Unfortunately, the top brass handled this wrong right from the start with their constant deceit and evasions. They have let down their rank and file employees in so many ways.
Star-viking
I guess this situation will get ignored, showing that the apparent heartfelt disgust at bullying in the Otsu case was just skin-deep.
Alex Einz
That is sad but very natural and the government is to blame , by not showing clearly the responsible people and punishment them heavily - they spread the guilt ,that way the weakest ones suffer.
Samantha Zoe Aso
So wrong on so many differing levels.