Regarding the Jan. 12/13 Kyodo article "Osaka basketball coach tries to justify physical discipline after beaten boy's suicide": Whether the student was struck one time, 10 times or 30 times does not make any difference. People with a mind-set like this teacher's have to be kept away from pupils.
I am afraid this may be just the tip of the iceberg. No one can tell me that the principal and the other teachers at that school did not know about the coach's actions of "encouragement."
When it takes a boy's suicide to fix the attention of the public, the authorities and the press on such misconduct, there is something fundamentally wrong with our society.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.