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The Yamanashi board of education has demanded schools take strict preventive measures against violence by teachers, following an incident on Oct 24 in which a teacher at Kofu Josai Yamanashi Prefectural High School got angry when a student came to school with the sides of his head shaved. The teacher, a man in his 50s, slapped the boy at least 10 times at an after-school club activity and then ordered three other students to help him forcibly shave the boy's head, Sankei Shimbun reported.
Another male instructor who was at the scene verbally abused the student, and forced the other three students to shave their hair off as an act of collective responsibility.
The principal of the school found out after the boy's parents complained. After the incident, the principal and both teachers visited the homes of the four boys involved to apologize, Sankei reported.
In another incident at Enzan High School recently, a male teacher in his 30s punched a student who had been sleeping in class to wake him up. In August, at Minobu High School, a male teacher kicked a student's leg.
The board of education head, Mamoru Moriya, said physical violence cannot be tolerated at any level because of its emotional effects on the students.
© Japan Today
20 Comments
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Jandworld
6-3-3 school system. So the boy who wanted to look like a soccer player was at least 15 years old.
sfjp330
The teacher should've been arrested on suspicion of assault for allegedly slapping the boy. Japanese law does not protect the children and minors.
Kazuaki Shimazaki
Interesting, this wasn't in Crime, but National. Is JapanToday hinting at a position? :-)
One of these days (preferably sooner), they should put at least one of these teachers in court and convict him. Seeing one of their colleagues behind bars should get the message across.
Thunderbird2
This is all pretty disgusting... at the very least it's assault.
Disillusioned
Shaving boys' heads has a long history as discipline in Japan, as does the good old smack down and hazing. The BOE has spent a lot of money counseling students about bullying in schools. It's a shame it doesn't apply to the teachers too. I've witnessed quite a few disturbing incidents between teachers and students in high schools over the years and while the number of incidents does seem to be decreasing the severity does not. This was at a public high school and the teacher should be immediately fired and facing common assault charges.
John Beara
Just try to do that to my boy ... just try :)
njca4
No wonder cases of school bullying are at an all-time high.
turbotsat
Eye for an eye. Ten slaps for the teacher, and shaven like a monk.
RealCDN
"John BearaOCT. 28, 2016 - 10:42PM JST Just try to do that to my boy ... just try :)"
I'm with you. I'd kick that "teacher's" ass. As well as the ass of the supporting "instructors". Pitiful.
sensei258
Don't worry, he'll get a 10 % reduction in pay for 3 months, that'll teach him.
nath
Why are their names not being published? The parents should take all involved to court for assaulting a minor, then bring suit to have them and the principal dismissed.
oldman_13
While some may moan and cry about things like these, just look at schools in your home country where teachers have lost all control. Where students don't respect or fear them or the environment, where they assault teachers on a daily basis.
Spare the rod, spoil the child.
bjohnson23
School rules still apply regarding dress codes, so the alternative was shave your head, its one or the other, either parents or student. The others did as unity as is taught in Japan. Good going for the teacher who is only trying to keep traditional values in Japan and not fall whim to the westernization or foreign influence in Japan.
Goodlucktoyou
How do you say assault and child abuse in Japanese?
DaDude
If the haircut is against school rules, let the school deal with it with his parents or take action like suspension or detention. The teacher is only there to teach and give discipline if an offense happens on campus. This is Japan though and some teachers act like they are the Supreme Being.
smithinjapan
One slap is assault, and assault is against the law. TEN is above and beyond disgusting, should result in the man's immediate firing and revocation of his license now and forever, and jail time as well as massive fines. It is absolutely disgraceful that in the face of three clear instances of abuse (and that's only recently -- we all know about the bullying until suicide by teachers and coaches as well as the usual corporal punishment and beatings), and they're talking about "strict preventative measures" after the fact and NOTHING about punishment.
No wonder this country is so far behind in so many fields.
coskuri
The worst is they don't take the case as a serious matter at all. I hope the parents sue, sue, sue... till the boys are in their 50's.
That must be a typo. We should have read : the Governor, the Board of Education's director, the principal, both EX-teacher and their lawyer visited the lawyers of the four families and of the PTA to discuss compensation, present official apologies ...
And what about the rules regarding humane treatment of student ? They could have not accepted him in class that morning and/ given the usual type of punishment. Beating and humiliation are totally not in the rules.
smithinjapan
Coskuri: "The worst is they don't take the case as a serious matter at all. I hope the parents sue, sue, sue... till the boys are in their 50's."
Agreed. Problem is the courts are all part of the same problem. They'd just say, "We recognize haste may have resulted in regrettable actions, and we hope from now on the school will make its best effort to avoid future mishaps. We leave punishment up to the board of education" (which will do nothing).
oyatoi
The song remains the same. Teacher's loss of self-control and resort to brute force discipline in the absence of knowing how to handle a problem using professional skill honed over a lifetime of teaching. Those on the receiving end fail to keep quiet about it, school and Board of Education get dragged in, principal and teachers put on the dogeza performance of their lives, promising it'll never happen again. Only it does, again and again and again.