School Violence;Violencia en las escuelas

Number of cases of school violence hits a new high in Japan

Tokyo, Sep 15 (Kyodo) The number of violence cases in schools across Japan increased for the fourth straight year to hit a record of 60,913 in the 2009 school year through March. Of the total, violence cases at junior high schools accounted for 72 percent, according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The number of students who committed suicide stood at 165, up by 29 from a year earlier, of whom two were found to be linked to bullying, the report said. The number of bullying cases, meanwhile, came to 72,778, down 11,870 from a year before, reflecting school efforts to prevent it through interviews with individual students, according to the report. Showing concerns that the increase in the number of school violence cases "stems from a lack of morality among students," the ministry has instructed boards of education across the country to promote coordination with local communities to improve the situation, officials said. Of all the violence cases, 34,277 were among students, 16,604 involved property destruction and 8,304 were against teachers. By school, violence cases at elementary schools came to 7,115, up 631, those at junior high schools came to 43,715, up 961, and those at senior high schools amounted to 10,083, down 297. In 11,708 cases, victims received treatment at hospitals. Of all the bullying cases, 34,766 were detected at elementary schools, 32,111 at junior high schools, 5,642 at senior high schools, and 259 at schools for the handicapped. Bullying was reported at 32 percent of all the elementary schools, 54 percent of junior high schools, 37 percent of senior high schools, and 10 percent of schools for the handicapped. The number of high school dropouts came to 56,948, down 9,295, accounting for 2 percent of all the students enrolled.(Kyodo)