Most Japanese high school students use mobile phones to stay in touch with friends, but growing numbers are using them for anti-social purposes.
For former high school student Makoto, now 19 and working as a hair stylist after graduating from high school, photos of him posted by classmates along with insults on a website drove him to two suicide attempts.
Schoolyard bullying has long bedevilled Japan and, as in other countries, has taken on a high-tech twist in recent years.
A recent survey by the Hyogo Prefectual Board of Education showed ten percent of high school students have been harassed through e-mails, websites or blogs.
Cyber bullying is a global trend, but the anonymity it provides may have extra significance in Japan, where wariness of direct confrontation is a cultural norm, said Shaheen Shariff, investigator for the International Project on Cyber Bullying at McGill University in Canada.
Most cyber bullying in Japan, where 96 percent of high school students have their own cell phone, is conducted through mobile phones with Internet capabilities.
Common methods include e-mails and posts of classmates' genitals.
Experts say high-tech bullying is far harder for parents and teachers to police than physical violence because of the anonymity of cyber space and a lack of technical knowledge.
"Schools often do not have Internet-savvy teachers, and parents cannot control or see what is going on in the cyber world," said Yasukawa of the National Web Counseling Conference.
Questions:
1. How old is the student mentioned in the story?
2. A survey showed 10 percent of Japanese students are harassed through what types of technology?
3. How many percent of Japan’s students have a cellular phone?
Answers:
1. 19.
2. E-mails, websites or blogs.
3. 96 percent.
（英语点津 Linda 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Marc Checkley is a freelance journalist and media producer from Auckland, New Zealand. Marc has an eclectic career in the media/arts, most recently working as a radio journalist for NewstalkZB, New Zealand’s leading news radio network, as a feature writer for Travel Inc, New Nutrition Business (UK) and contributor for Mana Magazine and the Sunday Star Times. Marc is also a passionate arts educator and is involved in various media/theatre projects in his native New Zealand and Singapore where he is currently based. Marc joins the China Daily with support from the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
