Bullying in school remains a scourge in many countries. This is particularly the case in Japan, a country known for its safety in public space but paradoxically also known for the problem of bullying and harassment at school, while in Spain a report published five years ago has forced the authorities to act.
In Japan, manga on school bullying
For decades, manga taking place in schools has been a genre in itself. Bullying or harassment is very present there, just as it is in real life especially where college. Some manga, there are four or five decades, could sometimes lead to think wrongly that this phenomenon of intimidation called “ijime” was trivialized there, because of the cruelty of certain scenes.
But in fact, especially in recent years, manga aimed at teenagers has much more of a tendency to be a tool at the service of harassed students, by giving them the keys to defense, the means to launch SOS. Manga from periodicals like weeklies Shonen jump Where Shonen Magazine which defend human values are considered rather beneficial and more recently manga published on digital platforms are also taking over. There are also educational tools in the form of manga to help children get out of complicated situations.
Despite all these very Japanese means which seem particularly suited to the target, the problem is not solved. 499 schoolchildren and adolescents committed suicide last year in Japan. If school or family follow-up problems are preponderant causes, bullying is another. The tools in place, including a special control law that came into force ten years ago, are not enough. The brand new Minister of Education, Shinsuke Suematsu, spoke again on this subject a few days ago at a press conference. “I want to put in place an appropriate system to deal with this harassment, with more school counselors and social workers. I also intend to make efforts to make the law on the prevention of this bullying fully operational”, he assures.
“Even today suicides are deplored against a background of bullying.”
Shinsuke Suematsu, Minister of Education
It’s the same message every time, but the main concern remains. Teachers who often have 40 students per class do not see everything. And for reasons of reputation, schools even tend to deny the existence of bullying within them. When a suicide or an accident occurs, commissions of inquiry are set up but this takes months or years with results which are often disappointing for the parents of the victims.
In Spain, a law adopted in 2021
In Spain, it was a report prepared by the NGO Save The Children and presented in 2016 that made things happen. This extremely detailed work, based on the responses to a questionnaire of more than 20,000 secondary school pupils in public education, first of all provides a precise diagnosis of the situation in Spain, with several quantitative findings. Just over 9% of these students aged 12 to 16 have suffered from bullying. As the sample is representative, the authors conclude that this represents almost 200,000 children. Harassment is most often manifested by insult. Six out of ten students have been insulted, two out of ten are insulted regularly, and cyberstalking (by cell phones) is a common vector for these verbal attacks.
Of course, the report makes recommendations to the public authorities. Training of teachers, education of children, development of protocols, restoration of damage caused, and preparation of a major framework law etc.
Five years later, things are moving slowly, but surely. According to Save The Children NGO spokesperson and policy officer on children, Laura del Moral. “Thanks to this report, we have managed to place in the public debate the fact that bullying is a form of violence”, she assures.
“These are not kid’s stories, this is not a game. It is violence that has serious consequences for those who endure it.”
Laura del Moral, spokesperson for the NGO Save The Childrento franceinfo
“Recently, Parliament adopted the framework law for the protection of children and adolescents against violence. This law considers bullying as a form of violence, it obliges schools to establish specific prevention protocols and reaction, and harassment must be included in the internal regulations “, concludes Laura del Moral.
The law was adopted on May 20. It is very broad since, in addition to the issue of solar harassment, it protects the rights of minor migrants, or it promotes the denunciation and prosecution of crimes of pedophilia, for example. It is very clearly a law inspired by the mobilization of NGOs is in particular Save The Children.