2017年11月22日水曜日

EDU-JPN: Corporal Punishment in an Aichi Prefectural Elementary School

Education in Japan (Natalie Collor)

Recently, at an elementary school in Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture, a male homeroom teacher in his forties was found guilty of physically harming five of his students during a math class. Reports say that the incident occurred while the class was checking answers to an assignment. When many students did not understand the material in the way the teacher explained, he lost his temper and began physically harming his students. He hit a few boys on their heads with rulers. He even smacked one girl’s head against the blackboard. Since the day of this incident, this female student has not been able to return to school. The guilty teacher has publicly apologized for his actions and is currently taking an indefinite leave of absence. 

This incident, however, was not the first time this teacher has been accused of physically harming his students. Two years ago, he pushed a student down, and the student suffered a neck and shoulder injury. Perhaps the teacher was able to keep his job at this time because the boy’s parents and school administrators viewed this incident as an accident, not corporal punishment. 

Investigations related to this violent incident are ongoing, and the Toyohashi City Board of Education is slowly releasing information regarding the events that occurred. Area parents and school employees are no doubt on edge about the future of this teacher’s career in public schools.