Mother Outraged as School Dismisses Oiso Bullying with “Just Ignore It” Response

“Since we couldn’t expect anything from anyone, I consulted with the town councilors and the mayor, but the principal only said, ‘The school is taking action, so there’s nothing to worry about.’ My son asked the homeroom teacher for help more than 10 times, but was told, ‘You’re being persistent, don’t make eye contact with the bullies.’ Over time, the bullying group started to make verbal attacks on him during dismissal, and my son began experiencing symptoms like chest pain, trembling hands, and tears due to stress.

By the time he reached 5th grade, the stress from the bullying worsened his pre-existing bronchial asthma, and he began saying things like, ‘If this continues, my mind will break, and I’ll never be able to go back,’ and ‘I’m not living to be bullied.’ He felt it was impossible and decided to transfer to a school in a neighboring town. After that, he no longer faced bullying, which made the severity of the past five years more apparent.”

The Ministry of Education’s guidelines for serious bullying incidents stipulate that if the victim transfers schools, the school must take appropriate action. However, the school acted as if they didn’t know anything about the transferred student and failed to investigate the bullying.

“When we asked for an investigation, they told us, ‘We have no records or memories of your son’s bullying.’ They didn’t even provide guidance to the parents of the bullying group. One reason for hiding the bullying could be that the bullying group had a child of a town councilor (at the time), and the school and board of education had strong connections with management positions.

Since it’s a small town, there was an unspoken atmosphere that you shouldn’t say anything about the children of influential people. In fact, when my husband asked the principal to address the town councilor’s child, he was told, ‘I can’t because we’re close friends with the parents.’ Another town councilor even told us, ‘Everyone knows about your son’s bullying, but since the parents are influential, they won’t take proper action.'”

 

Should be strictly pursued.

 Due to the fear that the bullying might be denied, the mother requested the town for disclosure of information in April 2023. As a result, the town’s Board of Education reversed its stance and recognized the situation as a serious bullying case. The disclosed documents revealed that there had been a sloppy management system in place.

“The attendance records disclosed showed that the 65 days of early departures my son had when he was in the 4th grade were all marked as attended. With this, it’s inevitable that people would think the school was covering up the bullying. I can’t believe that a school would have no record of bullying while doing something like this. If the school doesn’t change, the same thing will happen again. Currently, the third-party committee is investigating the bullying my son experienced, and I want them to clarify the facts and establish a system where bullying will never happen again.”

What does the elementary school think about these facts of bullying? When asked about the reasons for not taking appropriate action, the principal of the school responded, “The town’s Board of Education will handle the interview.” When questions were sent again to the Oiso Town Board of Education, they replied, “Since a third-party investigation into the serious bullying case is currently being conducted, we will refrain from providing responses regarding individual cases.” (School Education Division, Education Guidance Section)

According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), the number of serious bullying cases reported in elementary and middle schools nationwide reached a record high of 1,306 in fiscal 2023. Suicides believed to be caused by bullying continue to occur. Lawyer Tomonori Takahashi, an expert in bullying issues, criticizes the school for its failure to take appropriate action:

“Normally, when the victim’s guardian reports potential bullying, the school should immediately conduct an investigation and take action. In this case, the child was so mentally distressed that he had to transfer schools, yet the school didn’t take any anti-bullying measures until that point. This should be severely scrutinized. When the investigation begins, some teachers will flip their stance and say, ‘I thought it was a problem,’ so it’s also necessary to leave evidence, such as recordings.”

If bullying is allowed to continue, it could lead to a serious situation where the victim might take their own life. It is crucial for not only parents but also schools and teachers to respond properly and address problems while they are still small.