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| Home |  | Free Resources | | Tales Out of School |
all skills that are neglected in schools. The report also states, "The IPPR (The Institute for Public Policy Research - PF) warns that these divisions in society are as real now, and likely to grow wider. In language particularly strong for a leftwing thinktank, it says that the changes to families have undermined their ability to socialise young people, and that communities have lost their ability to enforce social norms. Adults in Britain are less likely to intervene when they see antisocial behaviour than any others in Europe. It concludes that "we have failed to replace the basic building blocks of socialisation (family, religion ... and rigid employment paths) with any coherent alternative".
To read the complete article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1941915,00.html
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These stories were sent to me by Kyoko Aizawa, founder of Otherwise Japan (http://shinshu.fm/MHz/02.32/archives/0000153063.html).
Teacher instigated bullying against boy who killed himself
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200610160236.html
10/16/2006
The Asahi Shimbun
CHIKUZEN, Fukuoka Prefecture--A junior high school teacher was the chief instigator of the bullying that tormented a 13-year-old student so much that he committed suicide, the head of the school said Monday.
"The teacher's remarks created an image of the boy in the eyes of the other students," Satoshi Goya, the head of Miwa Junior High School told reporters. "I think this caused the bullying and led to his suicide."
The boy's former homeroom teacher branded the boy a liar, leaked personal information that led to a nickname the boy hated, and said he bullied the boy intensively because "he was easy to make fun of," according to Goya.
After repeated bullying from the teacher and his classmates, the second-year student hanged himself in a shed of his home Wednesday. He left behind suicide notes that said he was ending his life because he could no longer endure the bullying.
After his death, his parents held several discussions with Goya and the boy's first-year homeroom teacher. According to the parents, the boy's mother consulted with the teacher about her son's fascination with the Internet. Later, the teacher leaked the contents of the consultations, and the boy's classmates gave him a nickname related to the personal information. The boy detested the nickname and began begging his mother to let him stay home from school.
During the discussions on Saturday and Sunday, Goya explained one incident when the boy picked up writing materials that a classmate had dropped on the floor. The teacher called the boy "a hypocrite who cannot even be a hypocrite." When the boy advanced to the second year, the teacher told his new homeroom teacher, "This boy lies," according to Goya.
When asked if these incidents were true, the teacher told the parents, "Yes." The teacher also acknowledged that he had bullied the boy because he was an easy target. Goya apologized to the parents, saying: "The (teacher's remarks) led to his suicide. Bullying by his classmates had been going on, but this became the biggest trigger and the root cause of the bullying." After the discussions with the boy's parents, the teacher told reporters, "I will compensate (for his death) for the rest of my life."
Miwa Junior High School held a special school assembly Monday morning. All the teachers lined up before the students and Goya apologized for the student's suicide. "We teachers did not do our best," Goya said. "There were some brutal words as well as presumption. I am sorry."
The school conducted a survey of the students to find out if there have been other problematic remarks and deeds on the part of the teachers.(IHT/Asahi: October 16,2006)
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Teenage arsonist was trying to stop parents from discovering exam marks
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20060626p2a00m0na003000c.html
NARA -- A high school boy, under arrest for setting fire to his home and killing his mother, brother and sister, said he had planned to commit the arson earlier, police said.
The 16-year-old boy from Tawaramoto, Nara Prefecture, whose name is being withheld, left school at about 6:45 p.m. on June 19 and went to an English conversation class. At about 9 p.m. he finished the class and went home. Police suspect he started the fire at about 5 a.m. on June 20. "I planned to do it earlier, but I overslept," police quoted the boy as saying.
The boy said he left home after setting fire and went to Kintetsu Tawaramoto Station, adding that he then went on to another station where he got onto a train. He was in possession of about 3,000 yen at that time. When he was found and arrested later in Kyoto Prefecture, he was carrying only 600 yen, police said.
On June 20, the teachers of his high school had planned to hold a meeting to talk to students' parents about their recent examination results. Police said the boy had lied about his grades to his parents. They suspect that the boy set fire to his house so that his parents would not go to school and discover his actual exam results. (Mainichi)
Unconventional ideas for teaching and learning.
TALES OUT OF SCHOOL
The received wisdom of our time is that school is the best place for children to be for social, academic, and political reasons. I question this wisdom by offering other ways and means for children and adults to learn and grow in our society. I don't mean to "dump on the schools" by noting the stories below, but I want people to be aware that universal compulsory schooling does not work for everyone, everywhere, all the time, and that we need other places and people to help our children to learn. The pressure schools and adults put on kids to be highly competitive for school awards has serious negative effects that most schools and adults seem to be in denial about. Please send me any stories or articles you think belong here. — PF
INTENSIVE SCHOOLING KEEPS THE POOR POOR
This story about a study in Britain that shows that poor children, in particular, are being left behind by that nation's emphasis on testing and increases in academic-time-on-task. The secret to social mobility, according to this report, is not high grades but "personal and social skills, such as self-control, self-motivation and an ability to get along with others,"