5 more letters threatening suicide sent to education minister; police to boost school patrols

Are these letters some form of 'permission' or something....???

Wondering...

 

The causes are complex, but the improving economy probably has something to do with it. In any case, it hasn't fallen much, and the rate is *much* higher than comparably developed and wealthy countries. (Like twice as high.)

SLM

 

The suicide rate in the U.K., whose suicide rates are lower than those in the U.S. and Canada, is less than half that of Japan's, but if you look at the regional figures, you find that Scotland's rate is about the same as Japan's. Doing the same for the U.S. reveals that Nevada and Wyoming also have similar rates to Japan (native Americans?).

Moderator: Readers, no more comparisons to other countries please. It is not relevant to this story.

 

"I want students in real trouble to consult teachers in schools and their parents to protect life. I ask those students to refrain from writing letters that can only confuse such people."

surely means

"Don't bother me with this s##t; I don't want to have to deal with it."

 

...say they are to kill themselves on 11 or 12. We will see tomorrow.

 

I would just like to build on SickLittleMonkey's "improving economy" point... He's/She's probably right about the economy having something to with it and what I find ironic is that people in Japan say they have to work hard because the economy is (was???) "bad and competition is fierce." What that says to me is that families are not enjoying life and parents aren't spending time with their children so they can spot signs that are leading to suicide.

The irony comes when the government and corporations will tell people that people will continue to have to work harder and even more hours in order to keep up with the demands of the "growing" economy. What you will see is parents spending even less time with their children and bullying will increase because the bullies will be even more spoiled than they are now.

Combined that with the dwindling number of children and schools "feeling forced" to "compete" so they will give these kids even more free reign.

The kids who are being bullied will kill themselves in even higher numbers.

 

Moderator, how can you tell us not to compare Japan to other countries? This conversation deals with suicide/threat of suicide, and what else do we have in life than to compare one facet with another? Granted, Maff could have gone without the "Native American" speculation... But I think this is the Japan Today Discussion.

Moderator: Suicides by school children in Japan is quite a different topic from suicides in other countries. There are plenty of issues about it that can be discussed. Please give it a try.

 

The media here has fixated on the recent suicide trends, threats, and incidents only in Japan. As most of us in the discussion boards are NOT Japanese nationals, shouldn't we be allowed to speak about how we and others interpret/handle suicide from our own home cultures and countries?

This week-long suicide threat on top of all of the other stories this month alone suggests that Japan is facing a governmental and moral quandary about what to do with schoolchildren killing themselves. As I see it, a multi-national perspective could only help finding a solution to and understanding for this "crisis."

Moderator: Please focus your comments on Japan only.

 

Hmm. Some might say that somebody who really hopes to kill her/himself will not send such suicide threatening letters. Furthermore, Such children must have at least once turned to their parents or teachers for help; maybe in vain. So I consider that those letters is their cry asking for help.

 

I can see the moderator's point, but it's difficult to discuss an issue if we don't know whether the situation in Japan is worse than in other countries.

The biggest problem I see with this site is that the vast majority of posters read a story and decide that it is symptomatic of serious Japan-specific problems. They do this without bothering to find out whether this is really the case - day in and day out. The board gets filled with condemnations of this and that aspect of Japan, and it really creates a distorted image of this country.

I noticed yesterday that it's now got to the point where some posters brazenly assume that the statistics back them up. And when I challenge them, I get flamed.

I'm not the moderator, but if I were, this would be the issue that I would be focusing on addressing. If, for example, there's a murder, and someone starts saying that it's because the Japanese are this and that, the moderator could point out that murder rates in Japan are incredibly low and dropping, and call for a more objective discussion of the particular story in question. Further posts in the same vein could be deleted.

 

I agree with you 100%.

What's more, I tend to feel that the moderator in most cases allows comparisons that make Japan look bad, yet opposes comparisons that make Japan look good.

 

just ask the UN (I think) who ranked Japan one place ahead of the US in their world ranking of best places to live. If the kids can't see this fact, then how on earth is the "beautiful nation" going to survive?
FU

 

Well, Saturday's over, and no reported student suicides. Will the police take credit? Was it the weather? Did the kids have second thoughts? Was it a scam all along?

 

"I want students in real trouble to consult teachers in schools and their parents to protect life.

The kids who wrote those letters have stated that teachers did nothing to help them.

For a guy who works at the Ministry of Education, this Ibuki guy lacks basic reading comprehension.

I ask those students to refrain from writing letters that can only confuse such people," Ibuki said.

In other words: stop bothering him, because there's nothing he can do.

 

so, the police lightbulb finally went on did it?