Children complain of bullying at an elementary school, but some investigations are not conducted Ehime Niihama

NHK has learned that a student at a public elementary school in Niihama City, Ehime Prefecture, had complained of being bullied by a senior student, but the school had determined that there was no bullying without investigating part of the complaint. The city's Board of Education commented, "We would like to sincerely respond to the points that were inadequate."

The victim of bullying is a third-grade boy who attends a public elementary school in Niihama City.

According to the city's Board of Education, in February and March, the child was subjected to two bullying incidents through his parents, alleging that several senior students who were in the sixth grade at the same school at the time had spoken ill of him in the school and that he had been violated and injured in the park.

In response to this, NHK found out that the school had judged that "there are no facts that constitute bullying" without investigating the abuse in the school.

As for the reason, the school explained in an interview that the number of days the children went to school was small due to hospital visits, etc., and that "it seemed that there was no opportunity to interact with senior students in the school."

Meanwhile, the violence in the park was investigated, and one senior student admitted the violence and apologized, but the children who complained of the abuse were not interviewed.

The City Board of Education recognized the truancy of children as a "serious situation" based on the Bullying Prevention Measures Promotion Act, and last month established an investigation committee consisting of lawyers and other third parties to investigate the situation.

Daisuke Fujikawa, a professor at Chiba University who is an expert on bullying issues, said, "It is contrary to the intent of the law that the school determined that there was no bullying without investigating it, and it is only inappropriate. We need to verify the response."

The Niihama City Board of Education commented, "We would like to sincerely respond to the points where the response was insufficient."