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yuiyoshida

(41,759 posts)
Tue Mar 31, 2015, 05:27 AM Mar 2015

'Clear causal relationship' with bullying in suicide of Fukuoka teen: Independent committee

-Fukuoka Prefecture Japan-
A report from an independent committee probing the November 2013 suicide of an 18-year-old male high school student in Fukuoka Prefecture, who had left behind writings suggesting that he had been bullied, was released on March 30 -- affirming that bullying had indeed occurred, and recognizing a 'clear causal relationship' with the boy's suicide.

The report, which was submitted to officials of the private high school on the same day, confirmed at least 14 separate incidents of bullying at the hands of classmates, which had begun from the time the boy became a second-year student in May 2012. These included slamming him on the head as he passed by, kicking him in the shoulders, placing thumbtacks on his chair before he sat down, binding his mouth and other body parts with adhesive tape, and playing a 'game' whereby he was made to faint.

The boy leaped to his death from an apartment building in the city of Kasuga, Fukuoka Prefecture, around a year and a half after the bullying began. According to the report, whose authoring committee was chaired by lawyer Koji Ito, "At the peak of bullying" -- which occurred around one month prior to the boy's suicide -- "he was being assaulted nearly every day."

The report continued, "He fell into despair and powerlessness, whereby he felt that death was his only option." It also went on to say that he attempted suicide in June 2012 by hanging, leaving red bruises upon his neck. While one teacher did notice the marks, this was not conveyed to the school's student development committee -- prompting the report to point out, "The sharing of information was inadequate. It is possible that this suicide could have been prevented."

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150331p2a00m0na017000c.html
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