According to an education ministry report released last month, fiscal 2016 saw a record 324,000 cases of bullying reported at elementary, junior high and high schools. The sharp increase reflects the ministry's policy of urging schools to pay attention to even minor cases that previously went unreported. Still, among them were 400 "grave" cases — an increase by 86 from the previous year — that caused serious physical or psychological damage to the victims. A total of 244 children killed themselves, including 10 who were found to have been bullied at school.
Teachers and education officials must pay sober attention to the fact that of the 244 children who killed themselves, at least three had troubled relationships with teachers. Although the victims in these three cases weren't identified, the suicide of a 14-year-old junior high school boy in Ikeda, Fukui Prefecture, is likely among them. When children die this way, it is often called a "guidance death" because the irrational "guidance" that they are subjected to is believed to be a contributing factor to their decision to commit suicide.
An investigative panel of the Ikeda Municipal Government determined that the boy's suicide was caused by being subjected to "persistent guidance" by two teachers. Such a problem rarely come to the surface because it mostly does not involve outright violence by the teachers. According to reports by schools to the education ministry, 13 students killed themselves between fiscal 2007 and 2015 because of problems they had with their teachers. Many experts say these figures represent just the tip of the iceberg.