Bullying

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Transcript

Bullying among Japanese children is in the news again. Recently the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology reexamined the suicides of a number of children between April, 1999, and March, 2005. The Ministry admitted that some of the children died because they had been bullied.

I don't know how many children are bullied, but quite a few of my students say they were bullied when they were children. Many of these young adults still carry emotional scars from the cruelty of their childhood classmates and the indifference of some of their teachers. It's really hard for some of them to maintain their self-esteem.

There are many causes of bullying, but the importance of conformity in Japanese society contributes a lot. Bullying is natural when adults fail to teach children to respect people who are different. We would do well to remember Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Before we can reduce bullying among children, adults need to change their attitudes toward other people. We must learn to respect the dignity of each person. And then we can work to free children from the tyranny of conformity. Perhaps then more children will replace cruelty with empathy as they learn to enjoy human diversity and appreciate the uniqueness of each individual. (242 words)