Bullying and suicide

Turn on the news the past few days and all they are talking about is the recent suicide of a 13 year old boy in  Otsu, Shiga Prefecture. The boy died after leaping from an apartment complex, and he was apparently the victim of repeated bullying from classmates.

And as reported in the Japan Times, it was pretty bad - his torturers reportedly make him  "practice killing himself, and that his homeroom teacher was aware of the abuse but took no action." The Mainichi adds that in a survey several students say the boy was beaten and forced to eat dead bees among other things, and (as is typical for this type of bullying in Japan), they also said he was forced to pay his "friends" money, and shoplift for them.

The suicide alone, as terrible as it is, might not have gotten this much media attention if it hadn't been for the response of local school officials. At first they seemed to act like they didn't know what was going on, then later said there was bullying, but it was unrelated to the suicide

Now finally, as JT reports, the mayor of Otsu is saying that the bullying was responsible for his death. The boy's parents are seeking 77 million yen in damages, and my guess is they will get at least some of that. [ Update: He actually said it "may have been responsible." ]

The truly sad thing, besides just the suicide and terrible bullying that went unnoticed (or ignored), is that this kind of story floats to the surface every year, and every time the local schools and city give the same half-assed non-response. I'm actually surprised that Otsu has (sort of) admitted the bullying had anything to do with his death.

I would also like to add that from what I've read and seen rarely is there a single cause that leads to suicide. A lot of people get bullied - I know from personal experience how horrible even small acts of cruelty from friends/peers can be. But few victims, relatively speaking, go all the way. From my experience there are always multiple factors. And a friendly ear can make a huge difference. But that's all easy to say after the fact.