Peter Jonsson comments

While it's good that they're finally(?) trying to do something about bullying, again, it appears that they don't really quite know WHAT to do, and I'm not surprised, not one bit.

Disturbed hearts, stress? Free school? With the right education you can identify possible bullies and bully victims already at pre-school level and take action from there. Taking actions when the kids reach jr- high is way too late... Another problem is that I don't really think most teachers actually 'know' what bully is, and that a lot of if is thought of as "childs play" or "fooling around". Also, I'm not surprised one bit that the bullies don't show any remorse. Ask them in another 10 years.

Having both been bullied and a bully I got quite absorbed in the whole thing while I lived in Japan, and eventually wrote a thesis for those who are interested in a more in depth analysis of bullying, especially how it might differ culturally. http://w3.crimsonsakura.net/sites/thesis2/ "The Emergence of Bullying among Adolescents in Japanese and Western Cultures: A cause and impact study"

There is also a Japanese version available should anyone be interested.

Abstract, I concluded that the Japanese bullying is thought of as a group phenomenon (contrary to west where bullying can be carried out by a single individual) and focus on the mental oppression, i.e. ignorance, lies, rumours etc. This was done by using the survey which I carried out in Japan, together with my own bully and bully victim experiences which I fortified with research carried out by renowned scholars. In Japan special importance is also given to ‘stress’ which is considered one of the main factors behind bullying, implying that anyone can become a bully. Whether someone becomes a bully or bully victim depends heavily on the parentage. Overprotection, domestic violence etc. might trigger such behaviours. As children are unaware of the devastating and long term effects of bullying it is pivotal that teachers and other adults who come into contact with children possess an adequate understanding of bullying. If these problems are not addressed suicide due to bullying, so called ‘bullycide’ might occur.