Bullying in Japan

Bullying is a social issue in Japan now. Here is a good account of it by Gaijin Smash. The comments are also very instructive.

My school days are long time ago, and I have no kids, so I don't remember it well.

When I was in junior high school, I remember, I used to play with a friend sort of wrestling mixed with Karate every morning. I am not sure if it was bullying. I guess it was just a play among boys.

One thing I remember well is when I was in junior high school student.I remember one of my senior punched me on the head,
"why do you stare at me like that?"
"why? No I didn't look at you."
"(Punch!!)"
I was sacred. I went to tell the teacher about it.That was it. The senior student was called and he was scolded severely. I was saved.
That was an serious incident and it is a bullying in a sense but I don't think it is the bullying that is causing trouble now.

I used to fight physically with other kids until, say, 10 years old. It is like animal world, you fight and your rank is determined. Probably the boss student had kind of hegemony over other kids .An stronger boy ordered a weaker boy to go on an errand or something, but when the weaker boy was threatened by other boys from other sect, the stronger boy comes in, and protect the weaker.
A kind of natural order,a realist version of politics, among kids was established.

A weaker boy had a choice, either he went under the hegemony of the stronger boy and be protected by him, or he lived outside the influence of the stronger boy:he made friends with other boys who had similar taste and the stronger boy left them at that.

I think the bully takes place when a weaker boy had no choice as when everybody else is not on his side and the stronger boy keep intimidating a weaker boy to enter under his influence, and demand unreasonable requests constantly.

It might be that girls have a different sort of problem.Odd girl out(女の子どうしって、ややこしい!) deals with insidious ways of girl's bullying..

Teachers and parents are essential to this issue.

In one class, I was asking sannensei what they wanted to be in the future. One girl near the front says "I want to be a nurse". A boy in the back laughs. "A nurse! You can't be a nurse! You're far too ugly to be a nurse!" The entire class, INCLUDING THE TEACHER, laughs at this. Poor girl starts crying.

This Japanese teacher is helplss. I can understand why some student consider an suicide as their choice.If a teacher is like that, there is little choice.
On the other hand.if there is a teacher who acts like the author.

I kneeled down next to her desk and told her I thought she'd make a terrific nurse.

I think a student can get over the bullying.

Probably we need a school pshcologist for each school.

Japan probe and other blogs talks about the possibility of Hokkaido Board of Education covering up the bullying incident.
On a first look, it looks strange that the board want to cover up the incident;for, it is already well known, and the video was already deleted.
On the other hands,the letter reads,

National Broadcasting in Thailand televised the images, and now the images are visible to everyone again through your web site.

What is the matter with National Broadcasting in Thailand televising the images?
Does the victim's thought of his image televised world wide hurt the victim? Is that what the Board trying to prevent?
Or as the bloggers allege, is it the case of an attempt to try to cover up the "shameful" incident ?If that is the case, that is not the solution but another problem on the side of the education board..