Current Events > Do you think bullying in Japan is generally more cruel than bullying in The US?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I don't know what bullying in Japan is like.
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IdiotMachine posted...

I don't know what bullying in Japan is like.

Watch more anime then.
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In general, yes. Although social media and cyberbullying could help "even the playing field," as it were.

Sayoria posted...

Watch more anime then.

That's like telling people to learn about America by watching more Parks and Rec or something.
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IdiotMachine posted...

I don't know what bullying in Japan is like.

Basically bullies beat up a kid and the kid becomes a world ranking boxer
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IdiotMachine posted...

I don't know what bullying in Japan is like.

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For those wondering, the intensity of the bullying in Japan comes from a multitude of interlocking sources. An important thing to understand is the idea of "" (wa) in Japan. In this context, it usually means something like "peace" or "harmony." However, that sounds good on the surface, it can actually carry some insidious undertones. "Wa" is this idea that the collective is working smoothly and in unison, all gears in society doing what they should be doing and where/when they should be doing it. That's where the "peace" and "harmony" stems from under this idea. Unfortunately, what can happen very often in schools is that a student or handful of students (though usually only one) is given the "bullied" role. And under "wa," as long as the collective is working well, the needs of the individual can be thrown to the wayside. Critically, this means that the entire student body will focus on a single target (rather than a single bully vs the bullied).

Now, Japan has been trying to deal with bullying rather ineffectively for a long time now, but there are extra problems with that. One, teachers (not unlike America and other countries) have virtually no real authority, despite the amount of responsibility thrust upon them. That means that they may be powerless to make real changes (and again, some may be unwilling to disturb the "harmony" of an otherwise effective classroom environment). Another issue is that, moreso than America, children's identities can be even more rooted to their school life, since they are obligated to spend more and more time there as they progress through their education. This can make it easier for depression to take hold of those who are bullied. After all, in such a collective society, the feeling that you're being forced out (or even worse, the feeling that you're supposed to suffer in your society) can be utterly unbearable. It doesn't help that parents themselves can be a bit hands off about all this as well, or just as equally powerless to do anything.

So, yeah, there's a lot of factors that lead to bullying being inherently more intense in Japan than in many other places.

watched an anime once where one of the little kids bullied a girl by murdering her dog in front of her, not sure if that's typical of japan though...
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There was this movie Aoi Haru, everyone should watch it. Its not entirely about bullying, but it shows more ghetto like Japanese school.
And there are many tv series or movies that address bullying, so I think its a bigger problem in Japan

monkmith posted...

watched an anime once where one of the little kids bullied a girl by murdering her dog in front of her, not sure if that's typical of japan though...

The most extreme cases are, as you might expect, pretty rare. That being said, since students don't have to go home immediately after school and are largely left up to their own devices until dinner time, the more "imaginative" among them can certainly push the envelope at times.

Dragonblade01 posted...

monkmith posted...

watched an anime once where one of the little kids bullied a girl by murdering her dog in front of her, not sure if that's typical of japan though...

The most extreme cases are, as you might expect, pretty rare. That being said, since students don't have to go home immediately after school and are largely left up to their own devices until dinner time, the more "imaginative" among them can certainly push the envelope at times.

huh. does it normally result in the bullied kid developing psychic invisible tendrils that can turn the average human into mulch?
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monkmith posted...

Dragonblade01 posted...

monkmith posted...

watched an anime once where one of the little kids bullied a girl by murdering her dog in front of her, not sure if that's typical of japan though...

The most extreme cases are, as you might expect, pretty rare. That being said, since students don't have to go home immediately after school and are largely left up to their own devices until dinner time, the more "imaginative" among them can certainly push the envelope at times.

huh. does it normally result in the bullied kid developing psychic invisible tendrils that can turn the average human into mulch?

Nah, I think that's just a power fantasy.

there is a manga showing how japanese kids are bullied
it starts with a kid in class bullying a deaf girl and when she moves away the principle gets involved and the other students throw him under the bus even though they all bullied her so then they all started bullying him and the teacher did nothing and at one point told him it was what he deserved, even though the teacher did nothing to stop the bullying of the girl either and actually laughed at a joke the bully made at her expense once.

anyway the now bullied kid and the deaf girl meet again in high school and he tries to make amends and its a good read
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yusiko posted...

there is a manga showing how japanese kids are bullied
it starts with a kid in class bullying a deaf girl and when she moves away the principle gets involved and the other students throw him under the bus even though they all bullied her so then they all started bullying him and the teacher did nothing and at one point told him it was what he deserved, even though the teacher did nothing to stop the bullying of the girl either and actually laughed at a joke the bully made at her expense once.

anyway the now bullied kid and the deaf girl meet again in high school and he tries to make amends and its a good read

A Sikent Voice is pretty good
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There's very few places in Japan where you can get treatment for autism and other mental health.

They also aren't super good at diagnosing it. And in schools, mentally challenged students can't be moved to special needs without the parents acknowledging the disability. And a lot of parents don't want their kids in special needs.

monkmith posted...

watched an anime once where one of the little kids bullied a girl by murdering her dog in front of her, not sure if that's typical of japan though...

Of course not.

Do you think people can make megazords with their eyes because of the Uchiha doing it in Naruto?
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Dragonblade01 posted...

And in schools, mentally challenged students can't be moved to special needs without the parents acknowledging the disability. And a lot of parents don't want their kids in special needs.

This is the case in America too. The only way a school can provide sped services to a student when the parents refuse is by taking them to due process, which isn't very common.
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IronChef_Kirby posted...

Dragonblade01 posted...

And in schools, mentally challenged students can't be moved to special needs without the parents acknowledging the disability. And a lot of parents don't want their kids in special needs.

This is the case in America too. The only way a school can provide sped services to a student when the parents refuse is by taking them to due process, which isn't very common.

This is probably a good thing given how stupid many of the people running American public education are, tbh.
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I have no idea how bad it is in Japan.
I have no idea how bad it is in the US, for that matter.
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I don't think the bullying itself is worse, but the pressure to keep things quiet makes it worse. As the guy with the Waluigi term said in more detail.

This happens in the US too, but not on a cultural scale.
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hell if I know

dunno i never grew up in japan
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While I didn't grow up in Japan and thus have no real experience or anything, from the very little I do know about Japan is that stuff like that is often kept quiet so I'm inclined to yes it is.

Sativa_Rose posted...

Sayoria posted...

Watch more anime then.

That's like telling people to learn about America by watching more Parks and Rec or something.

Parks and Rec is actually a great representation of the Midwest*.... >_>

*Except for the lack of meth.
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ArmieBuff posted...

it's kind of a contradiction how bullying is allegedly kept quiet yet a bunch of people across the globe who's never stepped foot in it know about it.

From the cases that break out into big news, and then those generate tangents on issues with Japanese culture.
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