Comatose 14-yr-old boy dies 4 months after 'sand bath games' in Utsunomiya

Tuesday 17th March, 09:40 AM JST

UTSUNOMIYA —

A 14-year-old boy who had been in a coma for four months after ingesting sand during a game in an elementary school playground on Nov 8, died on Monday night, police said Tuesday.

The boy, a second year student at Shiroyama Junior High in Utsunomiya City, was playing games with five friends in the sand at a nearby elementary school, when he was covered with sand resulting in him ingesting some of it, and causing breathing difficulties.

The game involved four of the boys sitting in holes they dug about 70 cm deep, and the other two covered them up to their necks in sand. The objective was to get out of the hole as quickly as possible, and then take turns to cover up the next one. The boy was the last out of the hole and was covered in sand by the others.

While the police recognized the boys were playing a game, as the consequences were serious, they decided to charge the five boys with assault in late January.

Kyodo News Service

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Latest 15 of 26 Total Comments Show All

LFRAgain at 11:30 AM JST - 17th March

Why were they at an elementary school playing when they were 14?

In the area where I teach, it's not that unusual to see older students hanging out on the playground at the elementary school they once attended. The elementary school these boys were at was probably on the way home from junior high and likely close to where these boys lived. The teachers discourage it, but there isn't a hard and fast rule forbidding it, that I know of. In some ways, the teachers and the community see it as a positive way of maintaining multi-generational ties between older students and their younger underclassmates. In most cases though, it's just considered a minor nuisance.

That these kids weren't being supervised isn't surprising at all; They weren't students at the elementary school where they playing and it was after school hours, so it's not exactly the fault of the teachers. Who's fault would it have been if these idiots had played this game at a public park? The city for not having a lifegaurd on duty? No one else is responsible for this tragedy except the boys who played this stupid "game."
Apsara at 11:30 AM JST - 17th March

Spudman- he died this Monday i.e. yesterday evening- the article doesn't say it happened on Monday. Actually I just checked last year's calendar and it did happen on a Saturday, i.e. there were no teachers around. The kids were playing at a nearby elementary school outside school hours. Anyway, close supervision by teachers for group of 14 year olds in the playground? Obviously some of you don't remember your school days very well.

I totally believe that there was no intention to actually kill this boy or injure him, they just didn't think far enough ahead. Probably not a typical bullying incident at all as it seems to have been a group of friends. 14 is probably about the dumbest age there is, and kids, boys especially, do far stupider things than this all the time- I have 4 younger brothers and think it was a miracle they made it to adulthood with some of the stuff they pulled.
seesaw at 01:16 PM JST - 17th March

I have no brothers and I went to a boarding school for girls only. So I don't know how 14 year boys would behave. But I can't accept the fact that the school can't be held responsible at all for this case. There must be some school personnel within the premises even it was on Saturday.
Deguchisan at 01:18 PM JST - 17th March

Apsara - Nicely put. 14 is a very dumb age. Ya, probably the dumbest. Supervision is still important at 14, but not always possible so these kinds of accidents will happen. I don't wish these kids to have criminal charges or this guilt on their minds for their life, but I guess it beats being a child-soldier in Sierra Leone.
jonobugs at 01:45 PM JST - 17th March

This is a sad and unfortunate incident. It's too difficult for anyone to surmise whether it was intentional or just an accident, but perhaps the police played it right in assuming it was innocent but charged the boys nonetheless. At least it will make them think a lot more the next time they get a stupid idea. That said, it's kind of hard to imagine that ingesting sand would be fatal. Maybe some got into his lungs which created some other condition?

As for suggestions that every 14 year old boy is the responsibility of someone other than his parents is just ridiculous. Why would teachers hang around the school on their day off to supervise children who don't even belong to their school?

At best a security guard could be employed, but really, this seems like an random unpredictable accident.

What about playgrounds? The same could have easily happened at any public area. It's just not feasible to safeguard every single possibility. Parents need to educate their children for all the possibilities of life. No one can be 'supervised' 24/7 unless they are a prisoner.
LFRAgain at 02:22 PM JST - 17th March

But I can't accept the fact that the school can't be held responsible at all for this case. There must be some school personnel within the premises even it was on Saturday.

What would you have happen? Adults follow around every individual group of 14-years olds on days when school isn't in session, just to monitor their behavior? And again, what if this incident had occurred at a public park, rather than a school playground on a weekend? Who would you be pointing your finger at then? The school shouldn't be held responsible for this. The 14-year olds should.
Apsara at 02:29 PM JST - 17th March

Where I went to school there would have been exactly zero other people on the premises on a Saturday, and I don't see why there should be anybody- just in case a bunch of brainless teenage boys show up and want to bury each other? Hardly. This could just as easily have happened at a beach, for example- no-one to supervise there either, right?

Incidentally, is "sand bath" the correct English here? I would have said "sand pit".
bamboohat at 03:09 PM JST - 17th March

I vote for the bullying gone wrong theory, and these kids,just being kids, lied their way out of it, saying it was "just a game."
Disillusioned at 03:11 PM JST - 17th March

Awe, c'mon! Don't be so hard on the kid. Boy's will be boys. I grew up on a beach and played the same games and worse. It's a tragic accident. That's all. It's a terrible way to die, but at least he was having fun.
seesaw at 03:55 PM JST - 17th March

LFRAgain: I didn't know that schools in Japan have no security guards or someone to stand by on weekends. I was assuming someone on duty was there and naturally could have stopped that silly game which caused a child's life.
jewel at 04:54 PM JST - 17th March

I feel like the only reason charges are being filed against the boys is the victim`s parents must be bitter and insisting that the boys must pay. However, they should turn the tables and realize that it could have just as easily been one of the other boys dead and their son facing criminal charges. I bet in that case they would be wanting mercy for their son and they would want society to realize this was a foolish act of youth, nothing malicious. I have a feeling the dead boy would not want his friends to be going to juvenile hall over a stupid game that went wrong.
LFRAgain at 05:35 PM JST - 17th March

seesaw - Japanese public schools do not employ security guards. Neither do public parks in Japan. I'm just going to guess that they assume the average person isn't going to bury his or her friend up to the neck in sand.

There are sometimes, however, teachers at the school on the weekends working overtime for whatever reason. Usually lesson planning. But part of their responsibilities when there is not to watch the playground. Nor should it be. It's outside of regular school hours, so naturally, no one should be there. Conversely, even if someone were using the playground after hours, it's unreasonable to expect that the school where this incident happened should bear responsibility for the actions and consequences of whatever party decides to trespass and engage in dangerous activities. This is not unlike the inherent silliness of a burglar suing a homeowner for providing an unsafe work environment after slipping on a roller skate and breaking a leg.

In tragedies like this, the natural reaction is to be shocked and dismayed, primarily by the sort of stupidity that lead to this boy's death. In all likelihood, most reader's first reaction was, "What the hell were they thinking?!" Fair enough.

But unfortunately, it’s also a common human reaction to try to place blame anywhere else but where it squarely belongs, namely on these boys, as if making someone else the scapegoat will somehow lessen the severity of the tragedy.

Blaming the school isn't going to bring this boy back. Having some teachers fired isn't going to bring this boy back. Putting security guards at every school across Japan during non-school hours, isn't going to bring this boy back - although it will certainly jack the costs for schools through the roof, ultimately hurting the students and education as a whole. But you can be sure that even if you held the school accountable, fired someone, and hired guards, it’s virtually a guarantee that other boys with equally foolish ideas of what constitutes fun would just find another place to do what they did. Boys will be boys, and sadly that includes an sometimes unhealthy mega-dose of really poor judgment.
magpie at 06:34 PM JST - 17th March

LFRAgain: I didn't know that schools in Japan have no security guards or someone to stand by on weekends. I was assuming someone on duty was there and naturally could have stopped that silly game which caused a child's life.

Seesaw...don't blame you though. With all the violence and incidents that happen in schools involving kids on kids, wou would expect there to be security. I'm glad I don't live in japan anymore. A lot of countries hacve an environment far safer than Japan for kids to grow up and play.
cwhite at 11:19 PM JST - 17th March

yeap, 14 is the age you jump from roof tops, climb trees and swing across, scamper up cliffs, mountain bike down 70degree slopes, drop kick other kids, play in the streets, dive off piers and so on... what can I say...
OhioDonna at 11:38 PM JST - 17th March

Sad way to die but it was not intentional. I would imagine that those involved will never forget the boy's death. I would hope that they will have learned to be more cautious in the future. This is a horrible way to learn a 'life lesson'.