Every elementary and junior high school student in Japan is provided with a personal computer under the central government's GIGA School Program, but 14 of 74 local governments surveyed by The Yomiuri Shimbun said they had experienced problems such as slander and defamation via apps.
Four of the 14 local governments had recognized such acts or remarks on in-school networks by some students against others as bullying.
As the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry in March this year called on schools to "improve information-related moral education" over the utilization of personal computers under the GIGA (Global and Innovation Gateway for All) program, schools across the country are being asked to manage and operate the program appropriately.
--Viewing adult sites
The survey asked a total of 74 cities and wards, namely the capitals of 46 prefectures, five ordinance-designated cities, and the 23 wards in Tokyo, which are responsible for public elementary and junior high schools in their districts, about GIGA-related situations seen up until mid-October.
Fourteen local governments reported incidents of social trouble related to computer use. The survey, in which respondents could give multiple answers regarding types of trouble, found that there were such cases as children having seen videos on adult sites, even though access to such sites has been restricted under the program.
At a junior high school in Tokyo, there were cases in which some students took pictures of their friends without consent and then shared the images with others. The ward offices of Shinjuku, Arakawa and Toshima in Tokyo, and the city government of Niigata, have recognized five such cases as bullying.
A municipal elementary school in Arakawa Ward found in June this year that when students in lower grades expressed various opinions on the display panel of their devices, the word "baka" (fool) was posted, clearly in mockery of one specific student. The content was accessible by the teacher in charge of the class, but the school was unable to determine who had made that entry.
Another elementary school in Tokyo found that after opinions were exchanged by students via an app, a particular student was sent words and pictures that they found hurtful.
To log in to the devices in the network in schools, an ID and password are required.
There was a case in November last year in which a sixth-year student at a city-run elementary school in Machida, Tokyo, killed herself, leaving a suicide note in which she complained about having been bullied. There had reportedly been slanderous remarks posted on a chat forum where users could communicate with text, for which the same password was shared by all students.
Seven local governments said that there had been cases of illicit access, such as the use of IDs or passwords belonging to others.
Five municipalities responded that some schools were found to "have used common passwords," in both the past and present, as was seen in the Machida case. Two other local governments also reported that there were cases in which schools "have used passwords that can be easily guessed."
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The GIGA School Program: The GIGA School Program is a scheme led by the government to provide every student at elementary and junior high schools across the country with personal computers or tablets for educational purposes. It is aimed at enabling individualized learning based on each student's understanding and facilitating the exchange of opinions within classes. The scheme was announced at the end of fiscal 2019. With the need for online learning growing amid the spread of the novel coronavirus, schools in almost all local municipalities were provided with devices and relevant networks by the end of March this year.
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