Concern is rising over a potential rise in students committing suicide or becoming truants after schools reopen, as prolonged school closures triggered by the coronavirus may have had an adverse effect on their emotional states. The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry on Wednesday issued a notice to boards of education across the nation and other related bodies, urging them to take thorough measures against suicide and truancy, including having private meetings with students.
According to the nonprofit organization Childline Support Center Japan, which provides consultation services mainly to junior high and high school students, more than 60% of consultations during the school-closure period were associated with negative feelings, such as students saying, "I've lost sight of my goals after the school shut down" or "I'm worrying so much about my future, I can't focus on my studies."
Anxious voices have been expressed regarding school reopenings over matters including interpersonal relationships in a new environment, with some students saying, "I feel uneasy about new teachers and classmates." A staff in charge of these consultations points out the need for meticulous care for the students, with consideration to each of their circumstances.
"Students will come to school while being stressed and with fears over the infections after an unprecedented duration of school closure," the staff member said.
People 18 or younger committing suicide tends to steeply rise around the end of summer vacation, as well as after spring vacation, according to a Cabinet Office survey. For the 42 years up to 2013, 131 children in that age group committed suicide on September 1, the most on one date.
The minister's notice calls for detecting early signs among students that hints they are thinking about suicide such as by conducting questionnaire surveys at schools, holding personal meetings with students and intensive online patrolling by boards of education. Regarding comments posted online where children hint at wanting to take their own lives, the notice also refers to a need to cooperate with the police. It requests school staff -- including class teachers and teachers in charge of managing students' health -- to work to find and resolve issues students face such as anxiety over their studies and disrupted rhythms of their daily life, which could lead to school truancy.
Moreover, the notice points to a need to better educate students about the coronavirus to lessen discrimination or bias against others who are not wearing a mask or who are coughing.
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