Bullying

I have to admit that its not surprising, as sad as that is. I'd say that I am more disgusted with the teachers who get in on it than with most of it.

They are supposed to be professionals whose purpose is to educate and protect children (it's part of the job even if we don't get paid extra), and then to condone and participate in that kind of bullying...it's ridiculous! I would be willing to says that if the teachers weren't doing it, they could help a lot of kids in that situation...i know it a little too well.

And to bully someone as nice as Ultimate Sweetness, that's a crime against humanity.

I know I did the exact same thing to a girl that those people did to Ultimate Sweetness. Of course, I did it in Preschool for about thirty minutes, so I think I get a break. Four year olds don't exactly have a great ethical compass. Nonetheless, it happens here too. And I'm reasonably young, so it was pretty recent.

I think, while bullying is a similar problem in both countries, Japanese kids have much different reactions to it, possibly due to cultural differences. As you've pointed out many a time, Japan is a little fucked up.

I'm still dealing with the romanticized view of Japan here, like the one you had before actually going to Japan, so going off of that, I think they take failure much harder. American children seem pretty resilient, while there are stories of the kids pushed to mental breakdowns, many kids are independent enough and have enough self confidence to make it through.

I remember fifth grade, where we pretty much socially crushed this one girl, who was pretty cool in hindsight. Totally crushed. A drive by with a tank. She managed to find a few people not in our class to hang with, and she held on to those few kids for long term.

Kids are all assholes, and bullying continues until at least 12 or 13 in schools. I came from a very affluent area, and I think that bullying is a measure of affluence. Look at Columbine. Very affluent, very white, worst school shooting ever. Does the Peace School have more of a problem than the Ghetto school?

I don't know, I think bullying is awful everywhere. I mean, look at America. For a culture that loves to celebrate the most creative and ingenious people, our kids sure do love to hate anybody who isn't the same.

I'm also teaching in Japan right now, and thankfully there isn't *too* much bullying that seems to occur between my students, but I have seen it happen. Hell, I've sat in class twice while students outright mocked me for the entire class period and the other teacher did nothing about it.

I just hope that something actually DOES get done about the problem. I think bullying is just as common in America (I'd say more from my experience, but I suppose that really depends on who you are), but the biggest frustration in America, and a common topic of conversation in my educational psychology classes, was the fact that in America instead of attempting to prevent the bullying, the focus tends to be more on empowering the victim, or helping the victim regain self-confidence. While this is necessary, I've always HATED the fact that the bullies are still allowed to be bullies. There is so little accountability. So few people who stand up and say, "This behavior is NOT acceptable, PERIOD."

At least what I've seen on tv here seems to indicate that they're at least acknowledging that the bullying itself needs to be stopped and prevented. What's going on here is tragic, but I think it's tragic anytime a child feels rejected by peers and is made to feel worthless, or as if something is "wrong" with them.

The lack of discipline is frustrating. The lack of power. But there are some things that I will not stand for, and cruelty like this is one of them. I've been on the wrong side of the stick enough times to know how it feels. I just hope that you're wrong and that change really does start to happen, but you're right. It's going to take alot more than just saying things need to change. It's going to take being able to give some kind of repercussions, to give teachers the right to discipline, and also for the teachers to realize that and really take control. It's hard, and it might take alot of work (I hate to say anything is impossible), but I just hope that the deaths of these kids will bring the gravity that this situation deserves, and I hope that people do right by them and prevent this from happening to any other children.

Why is the school system afraid of admitting that bullying does happen? Is it a matter of reputation? Are they blind of what's going on?

(Az's Note: Before, a school with no bullying was considered to be a "good school". Therefore, schools tended to hide bullying in order to keep their reputation up, rather than admit it and confront the problem. ...Remember that the Japanese are non-confrontational by nature. ...For the most part, anyway.)

dude, that's really messed up.

i know how ultimate sweetness feels, i was the only asian in my entirely white class in first grade... same thing happens.

i get that teachers basically have no power what-so-ever, but joining in? slap those teachers, they're not even CLOSE to being fit to teach.

az, do they usually bully in ones or groups?

Hi Az,

thats pretty shocking, its true, you really do get the impression that Japan is squeeky clean of problems. living in the UK you dont really see the truth of this counrty never mind anyone elses.

The thing that must hurt you more is that you have to sit there and watch it go on, is there nothing you can do to help, maybe have a class for the kids that are in trouble (you know when u have free periods or something)

anyways

hope things get better

catch u later

chris

Az, you seriously need to get GTO on your ghetto school. Aren't there *any* organisations who actually want to make a difference, intervene in bullying cases? If there aren't why don't you get concerned people together to start one? I'm applying to be an ALT next year and I'm really worried about the bullying. Assuming I get in, I'm going to make it my personal crusade to do something about any problems in my schools.

(Az's Note: Then you are going to have a very frustrating time in Japan.

Who has the power in Japanese schools? The PTA. ...End of the story.)

Unfortunately, this same stuff is going on in U.S. schools as well. It's not as overt as what you describe. Mainly minor psychological things done to the target time and time again until the target snaps and gets in trouble by lashing out.

That's all such a huge contrast to how Asian school life is portrayed to Western kids. We're told that their students all study hard and have great work habits, they're polite and respectful, and they can basically kick our collective asses in all things academic and deferential.

How the hell did we get that idea in the first place?

Well the situation is pretty much the same here in Europe. Stronger kids bully the weaker ones, teachers turn the blind eye, while parents proclaim that their child is an angel uncapable of violence. Hells angel if you ask me. I was on the reciving end from the start of the elementary school and by the last year I snapped. However I tried to kill one of them instead of myself. He was better runner than me and the present teacher was a looser who didn't dare to report, so only consequence was that I was tagged as homocidal maniac by the rest of school and was generaly avoided, enabling me to gather my sanity for the high school (still don't try this at home). High school was much easier than elementary despite some harsh moments. When I got out from school it took me some to govercome get over it.
I'm glad that it's hard to get gun in our country as I shudder at the thought what could I've done at that time if had acess to firearms.

That's really terrible - I could kinda understand the teachers standing by while you got kanchoed (though it's totally unfair, I guess you can understanding their thinking that as a giant black man you can handle it yourself) but letting Ultimate Sweetness get bullied??? I'm about to start teaching over here in the UK, went into the school yesterday and they have all these buddy systems, including a handpicked team of "blue sweatshirts" who get extra credits for going round at break times stopping kids get bullied. You'd think that Japan's eagerness to involve kids in extra-curricular programs would not only have meant they adopted this program, but made it uber-efficient as well...

I guess Japan's just weird. Talking of which, saw this and thought of you: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/the-japanese-wii-safety-manual-is-crazy-219119.php

That is terrible. I am amazed that Ultimate Sweetness has come through that and remained a nice person.

I think bullying goes on a lot in schools across the world but I am shocked that the teachers do nothing about it when it goes on right infront of their eyes.

I was never an active bully at school but I did do things I regret, including isolating one of my friends. I wish that at the time someone had stopped me and made me think about the consequences of what I was doing. I hadn't set out to hurt anybody, I was just selfish and wrapped up in myself as young kids are. Had I thought it through I would never have done it.

I feel very sorry for the kids who are being bullied, but I also feel a bit sorry for the bullies too. If nobody tells them what they are doing is wrong, or makes them think about the consequences of their actions, both to others and to themselves, it is no wonder they behave in that fashion.

Hey, I'm a new JET in Yamagata Prefecture this year and I have to say it also breaks my heart and angers me to see bullying going on.

"Oh no, it's not MY child. Surely it must be the other children, or YOUR poor teaching abilities. There's nothing wrong with MY child."

I wonder if that's the front the parent puts up in front of the teachers to save face and then wails the shiznnit out of their kid back at home. "(slap) How DARE you make me look bad in front of your teacher?!" Then those kids take it out on the ones that they're bullying "How DARE you make me look bad in front of my PARENTS?" and so on.

(Az's Note: ...Not really. Sometimes, the parents come to the school, and upon seeing them, you realize exactly how these kids came to be so fucked up.)

Ugh, this one gave me goosebumps. Almost too chilling to think about.

(Az's Note: Then you are going to have a very frustrating time in Japan. Who has the power in Japanese schools? The PTA. ...End of the story.)

End of story my ass. I really can't understand how so many people teaching over there say 'oh, it's so terrible this is allowed to happen unchecked' and then they don't seem to do anything past asking 'isn't there anything that can be done?' and just accepting the negative answer. If the PTA's got the power then why not appeal to them? Do they have power over the police? How about the government? International child protection agencies? Wouldn't kicking up a stink force them into doing something to save face? Sorry to sound pushy but I believe that if you aren't happy with something, if injustice is being done, then you should do something about it. Whether you're unhappy with something or not, standing by while it happens is adding to the problem.

(Az's Note: I understand your feelings, I really, really do. The problem is that as an ALT, at the school you rank slightly lower than the school secretary, and the lady who tends to the garden. Even if you do speak Japanese, so imagine how far down you go if you don't.

This is one of those times when you have to realize that this is Japan, and you're not Japanese. We're visitors here. Visitors don't go into somebody's home and start re-arranging their medicine cabinets. Even if we know for certain that there is a problem, it's up to them to fix it, not us. We're not in a position/we don't have the power to do so.

Schools aren't the only frustrating part about Japan. My friends and I have gone over them at length over many a beer. But ultimately, all we can do is talk. Anything else just sets us up for a lot of frustration and disappointment while we're here.)

Hey Az. You also forgot to mention the reason case in Gifu-ken that blew this event wide open. A junior high student had killed himself because of the bullying, as was with other cases, however this time it was a little different. His homeroom teacher was also responsible for a lot of the bullying as well, and the kid wrote a suicide note telling why he killed himself, and who caused him to feel soo bad. The school found this note in his desk and hid it from authorities and his parents until it was discovered by police doing some interviews.

I've seen some of this bullying myself, both as a student here and as a teacher as well.

I just hope that they take some actual steps to resolve this instead of treating it like a fad as they do with everything else.

I live in the UK and it is the same here, I was the only 'brown' kid in my class. I dread to think what would happen to a kid who was asian (chinese, Japanese). I got names like APPLES (all Pakis please leave England soon!) Teachers ignoring is universal.

If i was a teacher and I saw bullying happen I would tell that kids parents instantly, video it if they don't believe me. Threaten with suspension. These are the only tools you have I guess. But I guess it's not so simple.

Wow... Just wow.

I've had my shares of bullies when I was little, but not so much for me to even consider suicide (I was too naive to understand what it meant). Frankly it rather being shunned considering I was the only one sticking up for the bullied or boycotted classmates (namely one being known for his family being poor, and my childhood best friend). Even worse, the teachers... How DO teachers in Japan pass their university graduation?

Not just Japanese mothers, but ANY mother does not want to appear she is a bad mother to anyone even if a child's attitude says otherwise.

Moral: Japanese schoolers don't value life and need to think less of themselves as cattle, even when poked with a fork.

That is the price for ultimate harmony. humans are not that harmonious, ordered or coherent as the japanese, northern europeans and such civilisations believe to be.

I actually think it is a steam-valve for frustration. With life, with everything, with being poor, with being inadequate, with wanting and such.

It doesn't make it right. But to combat a problem, you must even knock on the devils door and ask all the questions about pandoras box.

This is the price to pay. Is it an ok price? Those who are in power think so. We slaves have nothing to do but to take from the behind and smile at the same time.

People fear that which is different, they despise it and make fun of it. This is not an enlightened way to deal with such things. It is not civilized.

...that's just sad. Even after knowing that students are committing suicide because of bullying, nothing is being done.

That's just terrible. I know how Ultimate Sweetness feels. I changed schools in the 4th grade, and I got the same treatment. At first, it was a lot of teasing- everything I said or did was "stupid" or "weird" and I was laughed at a lot. I wasn't good at sports, and I was kind of chubby, so that made it worse. Eventually, they just ignored me, and I became really introverted. It continued in much the same way for the following four years. When I got accepted into my high school though, I made a promise to myself. I swore that I would not be bullied, and that I would have lots of friends and good memories of high school. So- for the rest of that year and throughout the summer, I went on a diet and did a lot of excersize to get rid of my baby fat. I read every beauty magazine I could get my hands on, and looked up all kinds of information on how to be charming and more outgoing. I spent all of my pocket money on cosmetics and learned how to use them. By my first day of high school, my hard work paid off. I made a great start, and I made loads of good friends. Now I'm a senior. I am really active in my school, and I do modeling on the side. I still like to talk to middle school girls who remind me of the way I was back then. I tell them that they can be anything they want to be, and that they have the power to change themselves and the way others look at them, if only they are willing to try.

well, my parents grew up in asia, and basically, this kinda stuff happens all over asia since the like...1960's except for the fact that backt hen if something was lsot no one was allowed to go home until it was found.

But because of how society is like nowadays, teachers are less lenient and jsut go home once they can, sick f**kers who don't care shit for the next generation of the society :/

its almost as ifthey stopped trying :<

The parts that stick out like a sore thumb from the above post, as you likely intended:

"Seeing that the teacher was going to do nothing about this..."

"Keep in mind that this all goes on right in the middle of class."

"The teacher was also present for this."

"The entire class, INCLUDING THE TEACHER, laughs at this."

"More than that, half of them join in on it! It's not uncommon for a teacher to call a student by a mean-spirited nickname that some other student has engineered. Or, simply stand and watch as the bullying takes place right before their eyes (see the examples above)."

Kids will be kids, and bullying happens in every culture. But what hope in hell is there for preventing bullying when the teachers are ignoring or participating in it?

You say they're mostly powerless, and I don't doubt that's the case when it comes to really imposing any kind of meaningful penalties. But shouting at a bully or imposing a meaningless penalty is still one hell of a step up from sitting there in blissful apathy or laughing along with the class when a little girl is called 'ugly.' If your experience is common, I'd say meaningful reform in this case would have to start with the adults.

Az, are you not able to do anything about the PTA to get a fire under their butts and stir them into action? Are you really that powerless? What would happen if you did discipline one of those little terrors?

(Az's Note: Then *I* would be disciplined for "not understanding the needs of the students".)

This is pretty common in American schools too--teachers might call on the more overt stuff, but if they don't have 100% proof they turn a blind eye, and they tend not to do anything about the stuff that happens in the halls (a student might not be able to demand money from a student in the middle of class, but they can right in front of a teacher in the hall). And the more subtle things, like everyone not talking to a person for years, go on all the time without anyone doing anything. Kids who are bullied are actually often told they should feel sorry for the kids who bully them and be nicer to them, because the bullies obviously have emotional problems.

The book Odd Girl Out, by Rachel Simmons, is a good book that shows how it works in the culture of girl's relationships, and it's just as devestating to boys. This is a universal phenomenon that no one seems willing to do much about.

yep......seen it,it was much worse in the past,trust me,bullying is a form of protection from other bullies,gives you a sense of authority..

As far as the denial goes, Japan still won't admit that what went on in Nanking was wrong.

I am getting the impression that Western society is the only culture that is willing to examine itself with a critical eye.

Its in American schools too. When I moved to Arizona, I ended up going to the two wrost Middle and High schools in the town, and was heckled pretty badly, phsyically AND verbally even through my Senior year. Teachers didn't stop it either.... Just blamed me for it. And people always wonder why I have such poor self-esteem. ._.

And no, I couldn't go to different school. Middle Schools are done by location, and since we JUST moved and were still settling down into our house, we weren't going to get up and move again. And high schools.... Although they're also done by location, you can ONLY go to a different school if they're a magnet (specialized) school, and none of them would accept me due to being all full up. A real shame, since I really wanted to go to the school specializing in art...

...I'm still going to be a JET. I'm still going to try and do this thing. I'm going to try and get a few of those kids to respect me as a teacher, and maybe even as a friend and/or confidant, and pray that maybe I can teach, through my actions and advice, that there are a lot of things that THEY can do, individually, to make the world a better place.

Japanese culture is great. But sometimes, it produces some pretty horrific people.

...Say, Az, did YOU ever have to deal with that "Senpai/Kohai" shit when you first arrived in Japan? Like when they were getting you used to the schools and/or faculty?

I didn't expect any bullying whatsoever in Japanese school life. I guess it's something to watch out for before I begin my teaching career there...I want to make a difference.

I never worked in the actual school system in Japan. I only ever worked for private English schools when I was there doing after-school extra curricular English teaching. Most of my students were Elementary school age. A lot of the problems you've spoken about Az, I think are the result of poor discipline during Elementary School years.

Japanese parents (mothers, I mean, Japanese fathers have no input) seem to think that they can let their kids do what ever they want from the ages of 1-12 and then as soon as they hit Junior High School they are going to reform and become a polite perfect member of Japanese society. This is even seen in language when Junior High kids are expected to start using keigo when previously they use total slang. I've seen all kinds of behaviour going unpunished because "they are just a kid", including 8 year olds hitting their own mother. But there is only so many times you can reprimand a child with them ignoring you before you need to take action ("Ta-ku-ma! Yamete!" only does so much).

I remember one incident where I had one of the most troublesome kids at my school going crazy and not sitting still or behaving, I was trying to get him to sit down and he hit me in the face. Well, that was it, this kid needed some discipline, so I grabbed his hands, held them together, looked him straight in the eyes and said in English "don't hit me, EVER again." He didn't understand the words, but he knew my intention as he said "hai" in about the most subserviant voice I've ever heard a Japanese kid use.

I think bullying has to be stopped before it starts. Bullying isn't acceptable in Elementary School, it isn't acceptable in kindergarten! It doesn't matter how young a child is, they need to learn from the moment they engage in behaviour destructive to another person that it just isn't on. If you ask a Japanese mother the first lesson they teach the child it is "to be respectful to others and think how they feel when you do something" well, that isn't enough anymore. A social conscience isn't always an ethical conscience, sometimes you need to stop assimilating with the main stream and stand against it. But I'm sure there are very few Japanese kids that would ever stand up to one of their friends who was bullying. Going against the status quo is not Japanese.

This article left me thinking. Bullying has been indeed one of the biggest crisis in schools. But to me, it's pretty strange how such young kids can cause prejudice to other kids. It's silly. The only way a child can learn prejudice is from another. So I'm blaming the parents on this one.

I've written something on one of your posts before so I'm not new to your blog but this is really truly sad. I'm almost seventeen and a junior in the IB program with a lot of really smart people. However, this does NOT exclude us from bullying either. The boys call the girls fat, ugly, sluts, etc. Honestly, the girl who ways the most weighs 125 and is about 5'8. I'm 5'3 and weigh 105 and hear the same things. There's eleven girls in my class and none of them are even remotely fat or ugly but they all hear it too. The boys will tell us about how gorgeous some girl is and how we can't even BEGIN to compare. And they just continue to hammer it in. I've been lucky to have a very supportive family but some of these girls take it to heart. It hurts to hear it constantly. And it's not just the boys bullying. Girls will call each other fat, whores, bitches, etc. Bullying exists everywhere and it's extremely disappointing that it occurs in places that should be left for learning. I'm sorry this comment's been so long but this is something that really, truly sucks.

As I understand it, AZ you are a trained monkey there not to educate but to be seen educating. Like most professional teachers, I to have felt powerless with regards to bullying. However, I took matters into my own hands to stasmp out bullying in my class. I decided not to care whether I kept my job or not and told the students that if I saw them ill treating someone else then they would deal with me. I teach in an all Boy high school so some of them are bigger than I, but I backed up my words with actions. The parents came in to complain and when they were confronted with the news of what their child was doing, they told me to punish the student in any way I saw fit. If you don't care if you lose your job or not and the school knows it then it makes things a lot easier.

Mother of god. Watching anime (TokiMemo ~only love~ specifically) and then reading this, also comes as a great shock to me. It's funny how it twists your mind to make a sweeping generalization/stereotype of Japanese schools that, as proved by this article, is VERY wrong.

I would like to say that I endured that torture during middle school too... I talked "slow" because of a defect from birth (that is for the most part, gone now).
I was automatically relegated to Special Ed. from the 2nd grade-7th grade, even though I was a very smart kid. and all then, kids used to tease me calling me "Retard! Retard!" and I always got beaten up all the time by groups..

That was only some of it.

And I guess the anime generalization/stereotype that schoolgirls wear almost non-existent skirts is wrong too, right?

Az is doing everything that he should be doing; he's no crusader, and he shouldn't have to be. While the crusader gets fired, Az will still be there, quelling the tears of those who need it most.

On USA bullying, I'm from Wisconsin, and despite me being the quiet, shy kid, I was hardly ever bullied. In fact, for 3 of my 4 high school years I didn't receive any bullying at all. Maybe my piercing stare scared them off.

I've actually been wondering for a while if this was something you were going to comment on, and I was really glad to see that you did.

In terms of amount of bullying, I don't think that it's any worse in Japan then a lot of kids in the US seem to have it these days. It may be a little more structured, but I would bet that there's a similar level of bullying activity across the states. Where I think Japan is worse though is how often the kids will group up to pick on someone based on the cultural tendency to form us against them groups. As a result, in some cases, the bullying is probably much more intense, especially since other students don't want to get involved.

I was really surprised to read that the teachers have a tendency to encourage the bullying. I mean, over here, you do hear every once in a while of a teacher accidently using someone's demeaning nickname, not realizing it was made to make fun of the kid, but it's usually not malicious.

Bullying is a problem everywhere. It just takes different forms and different shapes. Personally, I wasn't really shocked to hear of bullying in Japanese high schools, perhaps just the forms of it. In the end, you have to realize that this is the same country where kids have random outbursts in class, lock themselves up in their rooms for a year or two because they cannot handle the pressure and these things have their own terms! That's right. Locking yourself up for six months or more is so common in Japan that they need a word for it. High pressure in school, high pressure out of school and virtually no way out. If you are below average intelligence and don't have a future of anything other than construction work, you stop caring about whose face you're shoving into the dirt. Acceptable? No. But understandable. For all you people reading this is shock: Stop looking at Japan through some happy-go-lucky-lets-all-join-hands-vision. Japan is sweet to the fortunate and cruel to the unfortunate. In one way or another.

Hi Az,

Kids bullied each other at the language school I taught at, too. In one of my worst classes the mothers sat in and watched (Argh) and came to the defence of the naughty boy who was hitting the crap out of a little girl when I raised my voice and told him to sit down and be quiet!

Upon mentioning this to the headmaster he said it was none of his business. Mind you, he also refused to belive me when I refused to teach his son after being kanchoed .... errrrr... round the front..... by him. Apparently his innocent child would never do such a thing.

Something not right at all with all this.

la la la

Posted by: Saben at December 7, 2006 07:16 PM

This article left me thinking. Bullying has been indeed one of the biggest crisis in schools. But to me, it's pretty strange how such young kids can cause prejudice to other kids. It's silly. The only way a child can learn prejudice is from another. So I'm blaming the parents on this one.

i have to disagree - it's actually the opposite. a child must be taught NOT to be prejudice - the automatic way that most peoples first reacted to people that didn't look like them when people were first finding each other was prejudice, it's human nature. Unless a child has been taught otherwise from the very beginning, all children shun and harass those that they percive as different from themselves and thier family. we don't see it as much in America for racial reasons anymore, because there are so many mixed-race marragies anymore, resulting in children that have seen people that have different hair, skin, and basic facial features since birth, so it's not strange to the child.
the problem with saying that children have to learn to be predjudced is that it assumes that humans by nature are a benevolent, happy, inclusive race - and we're not. we are seeing more and more that children that are not brought up with the foundation of parents that care and instill that caring in thier children via behavior and some form of education such as religion are holy terrors. yes, some children come out ok from really bad situations, but that makes sense - SOMEONE had to come up with the 'morals' and such that tell us what is acceptable and not in society.

just my 2cents

"-- Name calling. Vicious/mean spirited nicknames."

Like Cherry Boy, Velma, Bastard etc?

Thank you for the excellent post.

The insight into japan is why I keep coming back. Much better than the (worn out) kancho stories. I almost stopped visiting your site, but it's stories like the stuffed owl gift and the bullying, where you offer insight into Japan that make me return. Keep up the great writing!

Bullying is a huge problem in any culture.

When I was in year 7 (6th grade) a boy in my class began to bully me, grabbing me by the arm hard enough to hurt, saying nasty things to me and once even trying to choke me. I had always been taught by my parents to stand up for myself and I made sure to tell the teachers what was going on every time he started to bully me. Most of them listened and believed me (apart from one who told me it was just because he liked me and made me sit next to him). The problem was that they had no power to do any more than make him sit on the opposite side of the room and once we were in the corridor they couldn't do anything at all.

I became introverted and went to great lengths to avoid him. I was at a new school and had no friends to turn to. I have no doubt that had I been less resilient or had the bullying continued I would have seriously considered suicide. As it was I eventually broke down in the middle of a lesson. I was lucky that the teacher saw that it was serious and made me tell her everything that had happened. After that the boy was moved to another class and eventually expelled for other reasons.

Although the bullying stopped I lived in fear of being caught on my own with him and even now that I live in another part of the country and six years later it is still painful for me to think of what I went through.

The point is that even though the teachers knew about it there was little they could do and schools on the whole are unwilling to expel pupils as it's something that they are judged on.

Az you might hate me for saying this but that bullying might have made her into the ultimate sweetness. Don't get me wrong bullying is a horrible thing. In my school there was almost no bullying but a large part of that was because my class would do what happened to the ultimate sweetness to anyone who started being a bully. The bullies tended to turn their behavior around after that.

Does Japan have anti-hazing laws?

This is yet another reason I would be a horrible teacher. I was bullied through school, and I think I'd be whacking kids left and right. And by whacking I mean cutting in half, quarters, however many pieces I felt like at that moment.

Yowza. As someone who's actually aspiring to be an English teacher (and maybe one day join the JET Programme) this is really sad to see.

I mean, I'm not going to act like I thought bullying doesn't go own in Japanese schools, it has to, it happens everywhere, even worse: the fact that nothing is really done about isn't even that shocking.

In 8th grade there was a kid that basically the grade punching bag. During our mid-day break kids from other classes would just wander in and smack him around. I specifically remember an instant where he got yelled for being slammed into a bunch of a lockers.

I guess I'm really fortunate that bullying doesn't seem to be a problem at my highschool (of course when you've got 85 minute classes there isn't really much time for it)

Gotta say though, hearing that Ultimate Sweetness was once bullied broke my heart.

I was at a new elementary school yesterday and ate lunch with the sannensei. One of the kids kept spazzing out and screaming or growling (yes, GROWLING) because the teacher told him to eat his vegetables. Eventually the kid throws his bowl across the room, stalks up to the teacher, grabs her milk and throws it in her face. She does nothing. Later, a kid gets up from his table and accidentally knocks his neighbour's empty bowl to the ground, where it doesn't break. Teacher just lays into him for 10 minutes.

I know the first kid probably has behavioural problems, most likely tourettes and/or ADD, but that's not how you deal with these kids. Growing up, my best friend was OCD and tourettes, and my brother is heavily ADHD. Backing down from every confrontation just doesn't cut it.

That kid was also, of course, a horrendous bully to the other kids.

You would be disciplined for "not understand the needs of the students"? Holy crap...I think if you punished them to instill some discipline I think it would be totally justified as a way of understanding what they need *evil little grin* I'm sorry that you have to deal with that mess. Hopefully, changes will happen soon!

Az, I have only one comment. In the case of the 500yen theif, what was stopping you from telling that kid "You will *not* take his money, he does *not* want to give it to you, and if you don't want to volenteer to help me clean the school grounds, (and by me I mean you) I would not do this to *any* kid because I will find out."

I am sure that you have the ability to intimidate that or any Japanese kid into the straight and narrow.

And if the PTA gave you crap then all you would have to say is "the other teachers let this go on and I am fixing the problem. Or would you rather have this happen."

This makes you the good guy who is fixing the problem that the *other* teachers are ignoring for a better reputation. And if that does not work, you have the Gaijin Smash aproach.