Ministry survey: School violence up 13 percent in 2008

(Mainichi Japan) December 1, 2009

A record 59,618 violent acts by students were reported by elementary, junior high and high schools across Japan in fiscal 2008, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology announced on Monday.

The government's survey on students' problematic behavior has revealed that school violence has increased by 13 percent from fiscal 2007.

The number of bullying cases acknowledged by schools, on the other hand, has dropped by 16.2 percent to 84,648; however, the figure remains at a high level.

The survey was conducted by collecting data from prefectural education boards. It was not until fiscal 2006 that national and private schools nationwide were covered in the survey, and that minor incidents were also included.

Education boards say that principal factors behind the rise are an increase in the number of children with poor emotional control, and reduced moral awareness and communication skills among students.

According to the survey, violent incidents have increased by 24.3 percent to 6,484 cases at elementary schools and 16.1 percent to 42,754 cases at junior high schools, while at high schools, the figure showed a slight decline of 3.3 percent to 10,380 cases.

Violence between students accounted for more than half of the incidents reported with 32,445 cases, up 14.2 percent from the previous fiscal year, followed by 17,329 reports of property damage (up 10.2 percent), 8,120 cases of violence against teachers (up 16.6 percent), 1,724 cases of violence against students from other schools or strangers (up 2.4 percent).

Meanwhile, the number of acknowledged bullying incidents showed a decline from previous year at all school levels, with 40,807 cases reported by elementary schools (down 16.5 percent), 36,795 by junior high schools (down 15.4 percent), 6,737 cases by high schools (down 19.3 percent), and 309 by special needs schools (down 9.3 percent).

Bullying via the Internet using cell phones or computers has also decreased by 23.1 percent to 4,527 cases.

There were a total of 136 suicides by students in fiscal 2008. Education authorities have confirmed that three of them took their own lives because of bullying, but said that the causes for another 73 cases are unknown.

Schools making greater efforts to detect bullying tend to report more cases, leading to a wider gap among prefectures. The Education Ministry defines bullying as physical and mental torture that gives student emotional distress; however, schools and educational boards have different interpretations of such definition, making it uncertain whether the survey results have reflected the actual situation at schools.

"Based on the assumption that anyone can be a victim of bullying at any school, we are calling on schools to step up their efforts," a ministry official said.