The rigidity of Japanese schools is suffocating children and is one of the causes behind the recent rise in youth crime, according to education experts.
Naoki Ogi, an education critic who taught for 22 years until 1993 in junior high and high schools, believes teachers need to open up their minds and listen to children before trying to control them, otherwise bullying, truancy and other problems will never see a decline.
"If teachers took the bullying seriously, the boy who hijacked the bus might have led a happier life," Ogi said, referring to a 17-year-old boy from Saga Prefecture who hijacked a bus earlier this month, killing one passenger and injuring two others.