Tag - teens

 
 

TEENS

The health ministry's Suicide White Paper for 2024 has found that numbers for both men and women peak at age 21, with “concerns over future career paths” being identified as the most likely cause.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 24, 2025
Number of suicide cases among students in Japan hits record high in 2024
The figure for those in their 20s also remained high, underscoring the need to beef up care for the younger generation.
Takuya Matsui, head of a library run by the town of Shari in Hokkaido, stands in July in front of the library's bulletin board filled with answers to students' questions, holding a book made by compiling the answers.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 15, 2025
Book offering life tips from Hokkaido library's bulletin board becomes nationwide hit
The library's director said a question box was set up in 2023 to expose teens to diverse ways of thinking "in today’s social media-centric world."
Instagram has tightened content filtering for teen accounts to be in tune with the U.S.' PG-13 rating standard used for films.
BUSINESS
Oct 14, 2025
Instagram accounts for teens to be in tune with U.S. PG-13 rating standard
The move comes as Meta and other social media platforms face pressure to show they aren't putting profit and engagement over the well-being of users, especially children.
High school girls wear rented Chinese dresses for <i>purikura</i> photo stickers on Aug. 20 in Tokyo's Toshima Ward.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2025
'Purikura' photo sticker machines keep offering more 30 years after debut
The first photo sticker machines in 1995 were much simpler than what's offered today, but the novel feature of turning photos into stickers led to their blockbuster popularity.
Pope Leo XIV greets the faithful from the popemobile after a Mass for the canonization of Carlo Acutis, the first millennial saint, in St. Peter's Square, Vatican City, on Sunday.
WORLD
Sep 7, 2025
Huge crowds at the Vatican as teen becomes first millennial saint
Tens of thousands of people gathered at the Vatican Sunday as Pope Leo XIV proclaimed the Catholic Church's first millennial saint, an Italian teenager dubbed "God's Influencer."
Some 93.1% of Japanese teenagers who struggle with school life said they felt like they “wanted to disappear from the world" at the end of summer vacation ahead of the start of a new term, according to a recent survey released by Yokohama-based nonprofit Daisan Kazoku.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 28, 2025
Most Japanese teens struggling with school find end of summer ‘painful’
In a recent survey, 93.1% of respondents said they felt they “wanted to disappear from the world.”
At Yawata Junior High School in Nagoya, there are no more rules on clothing and hairstyles. Students are free to wear either the school's uniform or clothes of their own choosing.
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Aug 18, 2025
Schools get students involved in revision of unreasonable ‘black rules’
Positive outcomes have emerged from such revisions, including greater student confidence and stronger trust between students and teachers.
Among the middle school students who admitted to abusing over-the-counter medication, the majority — around 64% — said they got them from pharmacies while a third said they had access to them in their own households.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 13, 2025
1 in 55 Japanese middle schoolers abuse over-the-counter drugs, survey shows
Most of them got the drugs from pharmacies and their own households.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jul 30, 2025
Australia adds YouTube to teen social media ban, tearing up exemption
The country's internet regulator cited a survey that found 37% of minors reported seeing harmful content on the site.
Osaka Prefectural Police headquarters
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 12, 2025
Osaka police crack down on crime ring over underage prostitution
The group, made up of roughly 70 members, is suspected of recruiting about 130 underage girls for prostitution through social media.
Arisa Trew understands both sides of the debate around the introduction of a minimum age limit for World Skateboarding Tour events.
MORE SPORTS
Jun 23, 2025
World Skate puts brakes on skateboarding's preteen movement with new age limits
The minimum age of 11 this year will be raised one year each in 2026, 2027 and 2028 so that when the LA Olympics roll around in 2028, the minimum age will be 14.
A man hangs flowers on the fence of Francoise Dolto middle school in Nogent on Wednesday, a day after a secondary school pupil was arrested after killing a 31-year-old school assistant with a knife during a bag search.
WORLD / Society
Jun 12, 2025
France eyes social media ban for kids under 15 after school stabbing
A ban on the sale of knives to minors is also planned for implementation.
The Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023 launch event in Seoul in 2023. Studies have shown connections between social media use and eating disorders.
WORLD / Society
Jun 2, 2025
How social media can 'trigger' eating disorders in young people
The glorification of thinness and promotion of fake, dangerous advice about diet and nutrition push the vulnerable toward developing eating disorders.
According to the Aichi prefectural police, the suspect is a high school student in the prefectural capital of Nagoya who returned to Japan after being taken into custody by Thai authorities.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 24, 2025
Aichi police arrest Nagoya teen for involvement in Myanmar fraud ring
The boy allegedly conspired with other suspects to defraud a man from Mie Prefecture who was on a business trip to the U.S. state of Oregon.
A female high school student in Hiroshima Prefecture was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of attempted murder after three students were stabbed.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 21, 2025
Hiroshima girl arrested after stabbing at high school
Three students were injured, but none of the injuries were life-threatening, according to fire and police authorities.
A 15-year-old boy, arrested for fatally stabbing an elderly woman in the city of Chiba, told authorities he committed the crime in hopes of being sent to a juvenile detention center to escape his difficult home life, according to investigators.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 14, 2025
Teen suspect in Chiba stabbing wanted to escape his home life, police say

The junior high school student allegedly attacked 84-year-old Yayoi Takahashi from behind with a knife at around 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Meta’s rapid AI chatbot rollout is raising safety concerns as critics cite inappropriate responses and poor accountability despite its access to vast user data.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 14, 2025
Meta’s defense of its rogue AI sounds painfully familiar
The social media platform Meta is going on the attack instead of worrying about its users. How did that work out the last time?
A vehicle carrying a 15-year-old junior high school student leaves a Chiba police station on Tuesday to send him to prosecutors on suspicion of murder.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 13, 2025
Teen held in Chiba stabbing case says he ‘just wanted to kill someone'
According to his family, the boy had had behavioral problems, such as running away from home, and being taken to the police station about once a month.
Police have arrested a 15-year-old boy in connection with a stabbing of an elderly woman in the city of Chiba.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 12, 2025
15-year-old arrested for alleged murder of elderly woman in Chiba
Police are investigating the possibility that he randomly attacked the woman as they did not know each other.
The survey showed that more children are starting to use social media at an earlier age.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 14, 2025
Two-thirds of fourth to sixth graders in Japan use social media, survey finds
The survey showed that more children are starting to use social media from an earlier age.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes