Job Discussion Forums

[sushi]

Are teachers in Japan allowed to strike their students, or beat them if they miss behave?

[canuck]

[furiousmilksheikali]

[JimDunlop2]

Absolutely not. The consequences of doing so (on paper) are similar to what they would be back home (wherever home is). But as furious said, it unfortunately does happen and I've even seen it happen. The reality of it is nowhere near the theory of it...

But then, having said that -- this is Japan. As soon as something bad happens, e.g. a student gets sent to the hospital or dies and the media turns it into a circus, more cases will come to the spotlight and there will of course be the inevitable knee-jerk crackdown (much like what's going on with drink-driving country-wide and the latest high-school omitting mandatory courses scandals that the news is full of).

[seastarr]

i used to teach chibiko at Nova....I saw some parents punish some very little kids quite harshly....one little boy I taught was black and blue all over and his mother backhanded him in front of me and some other students one day. I was horrified. I dont think any teacher would get away with this with Nova, but it was weird not to say anything or have anyone really be shocked with the mom hitting her 3 year old, already bruised son..I really hated that part of the job. Nova staff said, that she was a little off..but that was it. In Canada, social services would be all over you if you hit your kids at any type of place like Nova.

[Glenski]

Some of those businessman students hit back with their briefcases anyway.

[sushi]

How would it go down if an alt or if any of us gauekugens were to strike a deserving student for missbehaving.

[callmesim]

[Dipso]

When I was a JHS ALT I saw teachers strike male pupils on several occasions. This generally happened in the staff room, while many other teachers and the school principal were present. I asked several other JETs if this happened at their schools and many confirmed that it did.