<h3>Difficult to find out during recruitment, psychological tests, etc.</h3>
 The arrest of a former instructor at Yotsuya Otsuka, a major junior high school entrance exam cram school, for voyeuristically photographing his student&#8217;s underwear and posting the video and personal information on a social networking group shocked not only parents and those involved with the cram school, but also the public at large.
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 In response to this incident, a bill to create a &#8220;Japanese version of DBS,&#8221; a system to ensure that those who work with children do not have a history of sexual offenses, is under consideration. However, the scope of the &#8220;Japanese version of DBS&#8221; that was initially being considered was very limited, and the &#8220;Yotsuya Otsuka incident is just the tip of the iceberg. The Yotsuya-Otsuka incident is just the tip of the iceberg. It is serious,&#8221; said Masanobu Takahama, president of Hanamaru Gakkai and chairman of the NPO Child Rearing Support Team Mugumi.
<figure id="attachment_334261" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-334261" style="width: 4589px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="3e5fa817"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/09/2dfe5287ed38db3787b2e743126cb85c.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-334261" class="wp-caption-text"> The Yotsuya-Otsuka incident is just the tip of the iceberg. The Yotsuya-Otsuka incident is just the tip of the iceberg. It is serious,&#8221; warned Masanobu Takahama, president of Hanamaru Gakkai and chairman of the NPO Child Rearing Support Team Mugumi Gumi (PHOTO: AFLO).</figcaption></figure>
 He said, &#8220;This is a country where sex offenders can easily get jobs &#8216;working with children. Please change the DBS in the current Diet to a good one.&#8221; &#8220;For the Japanese version of DBS, please add cram schools, sports clubs, and welfare facilities! Together with Florence, a certified non-profit organization, we have launched an online petition to request that the Japanese version of DBS be extended to all jobs that involve children.
 Since I was young, I have often heard from my seniors that the danger of sexual abuse of children lurks in the world of private tutoring schools. 
 For example, girls in the fifth and sixth grades of elementary school don&#8217;t think they will be targeted at all, so I was taught that I should be very careful not to give them one-on-one lessons. 
 Naturally, staff members who actually cause problems are immediately punished. But as is the case with the Yotsuya Otsuka incident, regarding recruitment, there are basically many people who can study well, and it is difficult to find them through psychological tests and the like. 
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 For example, tests that look at personality tendencies can reveal motivation, concentration, and social skills, but not sexual preferences. Therefore, at the time of hiring, there is no sieve to detect dangerous persons with sexual orientation problems, and the only practical measure that can be taken is to remove them as soon as any problem is detected.
 The recidivism rate of sex crimes against children and molestation is so high that in the U.S., for example, already in the 1990s, notification of neighborhoods and schools where sex offenders live, online availability of sex offender lists, mandatory life sentences, and lifelong monitoring with GPS devices have been imposed. The government has been a major factor in the development of the program.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Becoming a teacher or employee of another county and sexually assaulting children..."></div>
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<h3>They become teachers and employees of other prefectures and keep on perpetrating sexual assaults on children.&#8221;</h3>
 Takahama argues that similar legislation is needed in Japan.
 He said, &#8220;Even worse crimes than those committed at the cram schools are committed at facilities for children with disabilities. My own child has a severe disability, and the stories I hear in that area are vile. 
 In Saitama, a 15-year-old girl comes home from the facility and there is blood on her underwear. The girl knew that she was not menstruating because of a growth problem, so she immediately went to see a doctor, who told her that she had a laceration on her pubic area and that &#8216;it was probably sexual assault. Even so, the police told him that they could not prove anything with children who could not speak, and he had no choice but to cry himself to sleep. 
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 That in itself is an absolutely unforgivable crime, but what is even more horrifying is that the perpetrator is still going to other places and working as an instructor. 
 1 People who have sexually assaulted children, even once, do not go to work with adults because of this habit. They usually become teachers or employees in other prefectures, and keep repeating their sexual assault of children.&#8221; 
<figure id="attachment_334262" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-334262" style="width: 4000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="cacce19f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/09/91709c21ff3a50b99e0692594c3a91ee.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-334262" class="wp-caption-text"> At a press conference on September 26, Minister of State for Children&#8217;s Policy Kato stated that the timing of the bill&#8217;s submission was &#8220;a blank sheet of paper.</figcaption></figure>
<h3> The bill is a &#8220;blank slate&#8221; in terms of the timing of the submission of the bill.</h3>
 Prior to signing the online petition, Mr. Takahama had appealed to a prefectural government&#8217;s policy committee for people with educational disabilities to expand the scope of the Japanese version of DBS and to remove &#8220;people who have perpetrated sexual assault, even once, from their positions,&#8221; but this was met with fierce opposition from some.
 A woman professor at a certain university said in a colorful tone, &#8220;Abuse is more common from parents. 
 She said, &#8220;When you talk about things like the right to work and freedom, the question comes up, &#8216;Can&#8217;t people who have been released from prison work? I understand that those who support those who have been rehabilitated also have the right to advocate for them, but that is not the same as preventing those who have sexually assaulted children from ever teaching again. 
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 Again, the recidivism rate of sexual assault against children is extremely high, and laws have been enacted in the U.S. and other countries to ensure that such offenders are never involved again. 
 I don&#8217;t understand why this is not allowed in Japan, and I also don&#8217;t understand why the draft of the Japanese version of DBS that has begun to be considered covers schools and nursery schools, but not cram schools. The reality is that many children attend cram schools, and to exclude them from the program does not seem to be child-centered.
 The Japanese version of DBS was not submitted to the Diet during the special Diet session, and its contents are now being reconsidered.
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<h3>What Parents Can Do&#8230; Be wary of &#8220;cram schools that only show numbers such as success rate</h3>
 On the other hand, there are things that parents can and should do. Mr. Takahama explains how to choose a safe cram school.
 There is no such thing as a safe cram school. 
 The first thing is to avoid one-on-one time. Even if there are individual consultations, the door must be kept open and the rules must be strictly enforced. The first thing to do is to be aware of these sexual assaults. Just being aware of sexual assault in the first place makes a big difference. 
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<figure id="attachment_334263" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-334263" style="width: 3743px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="953e58e1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/09/8adb24d67a18f7a6205673cade0f42fd.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-334263" class="wp-caption-text"> First of all, don&#8217;t let them have one-on-one time. Even if there is individual counseling, is there a rule that the door is kept open?</figcaption></figure>
 This is because many parents choose a cram school based solely on its track record of getting students into famous junior high schools and do not think about the risks involved. 
 I heard for a while that there is violence at cram schools for higher education, not in the form of genkotsu, etc., which was still tolerated in those days, but in the form of an insidious tightening up. 
 We also received information through the community of mothers that teachers who caused problems with violence were forced to quit, and then did the exact same thing again at a facility for the disabled, and when it became a problem, they went to another prefecture and continued working there again.&#8221;
 He recommends that before deciding to attend a school, it is a good idea to ask specific questions about countermeasures during individual interviews.
 For example, &#8220;In what way do you ask questions from the children? 
 Since the Yotsuya-Otsuka incident, the public has become increasingly critical of cram schools, and all schools must be in a hurry to respond. 
 Of course, it is also important to gather information in advance.
 I tell parents to gather primary information. Not through rumors or posts on the Internet, but basically by sharing the information they know with other parents, or by checking the atmosphere individually. 
 As we gather primary information, we sometimes hear from parents of children who are currently attending the school, &#8216;I heard that there is a teacher who often calls out certain children. 
 In addition, I always tell them, &#8216;Look at the top leaders. For example, it is often the case that the high school that a certain coach goes to always goes to the Koshien, isn&#8217;t it? 
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 The same is true of cram schools. The leader determines the overall direction of the school, so parents need to find out if the school has insight into their child&#8217;s safety, policies, and philosophy. 
 On the other hand, a cram school that only shows numbers in terms of success rate is likely to have safety on the back burner because of that kind of philosophy. 
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<h3>Dialogue between parents and children and the creation of an environment where society looks out for them&#8230;</h3>
 Mr. Takahama also emphasizes the importance of parent-child dialogue and the creation of a socially responsible environment.
 When children reach the upper grades, their secondary sexual characteristics will begin to appear, so it is necessary for parents of the same sex or trusted relatives of the same sex in their place to inform them of the places they should not allow others to touch.
 Both parents and children should keep in mind that it is not only girls who are targeted. There are many cases where boys become victims. 
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 There is an African proverb that says it takes an entire village to raise one child. 
 In Japan, neighborhoods and communities used to look after children together, but nowadays such connections are becoming less and less common. Protecting one&#8217;s own children is a prerequisite, but it is also important for society to have an awareness of the need to protect children. As with the online petition for the Japanese version of DBS, I think it is an important mission of adults to speak out and encourage society to do so.
Masanobu Takah ama is the president of Hanamaru Gakkai (Hanamaru Study Group) and chairman of Mugumi Gumi, a non-profit organization that supports child-rearing. Born in Hitoyoshi City, Kumamoto Prefecture in 1959, he graduated from Kumamoto Prefectural High School and entered the University of Tokyo. Graduated from the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Agriculture, and completed a master&#8217;s degree at the Graduate School of Agriculture. In 1993, he founded Hanamaru Gakkai (Hanamaru Learning Association), which has grown to over 20,000 members in its 23rd year. He is also a member of the Math Olympiad Composition Committee, a board member of Nihon Ki-in, a guest professor at Musashino Art University, and a specially-appointed professor at the University of the Pacific Rim (IPU). He has appeared on many TV programs, including &#8220;Jounetsu Tairiku&#8221; (Continent of Passion).
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 Wakako Tago

 The Yotsuya Otsuka incident is just the tip of the iceberg. The Yotsuya-Otsuka incident is just the tip of the iceberg. It is serious," warned Masanobu Takahama, president of Hanamaru Gakkai and chairman of the NPO Child Rearing Support Team Mugumi Gumi. This is a country where sex offenders can easily get jobs working with children," he said.

Sex Offenders Can Easily Get Jobs Working with Children in Japan”…How to Choose a Safe School Based on the Yotsuya Otsuka Incident

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