Stop the Ijime

...Da mailing list da J-List...um problema social grave no Japão

The other day I went to my son's school to watch the various end-of-year
performances the students had prepared for the parents, which included putting
on a puppet show and school TV news report all in English, and the entire
fifth grade performing a symphony concert for us, too. While I was walking
through the halls, I noticed a big poster that said "STOP THE IJIME" with the
slogan "we cannot allow bullying to continue -- your courage will end it
forever" written below. It's a sad fact that ijime (ee-jee-MEH), the bullying
and hazing that happens in schools, is a major social problem here in Japan,
and all too often it's given as a the trigger leading to a young person's
untimely death. There are several reasons why ijime is such a problem in
Japan, beyond the bully-before-you-are-bullied mind-set that is probably
present in all kids to some degree. First of all, the Japanese custom of
keeping classes of students together all day throughout the school year, with
teachers coming and going each hour, might be good for imparting group
cooperation skills for forming lifelong friendships, but it also amplifies
problems between students. If you have to sit next to a cruel jerk for one
hour a day you could probably get through it, but all day, every day, for a
whole year? Teachers also sitting together in a large room rather than
individual offices is a problem, too, since it makes it difficult for a
student to talk to one teacher, especially bad when a teacher is part of the
problem. Finally, the near total lack of counseling and therapeutic medicine
is also part of the problem, and all too often all kids can do is that most
Japanese of activities "gaman" (meaning to endure patiently).