(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-11-20 07:26

The Japanese education ministry announced last week the results of its latest fact-finding survey on bullying, showing that the number of bullying incidents reported nationwide in 2006 exceeded 120,000 for elementary, junior high and senior high schools.

This represented a six-fold increase from the previous year's survey findings. Overall, this means that nearly one in every two schools experienced some type of bullying problem during the fiscal year.

We are surprised, however, that the results changed so much solely on the basis of a shift in the survey process. Prompting the change in method was the fact that despite the steady stream of bullying-related suicides occurring in recent years, those incidents were not being reflected in the ministry survey.

This latest study by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology expanded beyond the range of cases uncovered by teachers. Boards of education were asked to meet directly with students and conduct questionnaires.

Conventionally confined descriptions of bullying as being "one-sided", "sustained", "causing a considerable degree of suffering" and so forth were also tossed out in an attempt to widely recognize the actual bullying situation.

It appears that retooling the survey mode has succeeded in gathering data closer to the actual conditions. The figures underscore anew the troubling extent and depth of the problems that bullying poses. The real challenge, however, lies in what comes next.

According to reports from education boards, the majority of bullying cases brought to light have either been resolved or efforts are under way in that direction.

But even if a situation is believed to be under control, there will always be concerns that the bullying may resurface later on in even less visible and more insidious fashion. Scrupulous vigilance will be essential from here on as well.

At the same time, mounting countermeasures only after the bullying has been done is hardly adequate. Steps must be taken to prevent bullying from occurring in the first place. That effort must begin by impressing upon children at an early age that it is simply wrong to torment or discriminate against others.

Schools have tackled this issue with various approaches. The numerous examples include encouraging students to discuss bullying among themselves, using skits to act out the emotions of being bullied and adopting other means.

Such endeavors have generated positive results in some cases. However, it may be difficult to convey the intended message to the hearts and minds of children so accustomed to experiencing murder, violence and other unsavory acts on the Internet and in computer games.

How can children be taught just how savage bullying really is? An approach adopted at an elementary school in Canada may provide a valuable clue.

A film documenting this undertaking, titled A Lesson in Discrimination, was awarded Grand Prix honors at the Japan Prize 2007, an international educational program contest.

In a third-grade classroom, a teacher announces one morning: "We have learned that people who are shorter than 134 centimeters tall are superior."

The students are divided into two groups by that height factor, with those in the taller group subjected to wide range of discrimination.

Although some students protest to the teacher about the treatment, no efforts are made to intervene. Experiencing this situation for a full day drives home vividly the unjust and brutal nature of bullying.

There will naturally be pros and cons on the effects of such a classroom approach. The children involved are likely to feel temporarily hurt. The tragic reality, however, is that the young lives continue to be lost because of bullying.

Against that grave backdrop, it may be reasonable to accept this experiment as one concrete proposal to deal with bullying issues.

We must put our heads together in the quest for education that empowers students to understand and identify with the hurt and pain of others.

The Asahi Shimbun

(China Daily 11/20/2007 page11)