The number of violent incidents at public elementary schools nationwide rose by 128 to 2,018 in fiscal 2005 -- a new record for the third consecutive year, according to the education ministry's report entitled "Research on Problematic Behavior."
The report said the number of assaults on teachers at public elementary schools rose by 38 percent -- from 336 in fiscal 2004 to 464 in fiscal 2005. Such assaults include seizing teachers by their lapels and throwing chairs at them.
The education ministry has found that each elementary school student implicated in assaulting a teacher had done so an average 1.8 times. It says schools have apparently failed to administer proper guidance and discipline to students after they commit their first assault against a teacher, prompting many students to try it again. In response to the findings, the ministry has instructed school principals to take a strict attitude toward problem students, and be ready to suspend them from class. But is this enough to solve the problem?