Japan’s schools grapple with rising bullying amid institutional inaction

TOKYO – It took 14 agonizing years for Japanese authorities to formally recognize the torment that Mr Kazui Sato suffered at the hands of his junior high classmates was indeed bullying – or ijime. The seven-month ordeal, which began in 2012, had left psychological scars far deeper than his public school in Tosu, Saga prefecture, had cared to admit. His torture transcended endless verbal abuse: He was shot with an air gun, threatened with a knife, extorted of more than 300,000 yen (P116,000) and sprayed in the face with insecticide. While the school originally dismissed these acts as mere “horseplay”, Mr Sato was finally […]... Keep on reading: Japan’s schools grapple with rising bullying amid institutional inaction

Original source: Philippine Daily Inquirer