Principal of school where student attacked teacher criticized for half-hearted apology

Oct 04, 2017 | News On Japan

Oct 04, 2017 (Japan Today) - Many people in Japan are still trying to wrap their heads around an incident that occurred on September 28 at Hakata High School in Fukuoka Prefecture, in which a student violently assaulted his teacher after the educator confiscated a tablet on which the boy had been watching movies during class time.

Video of the incident was initially uploaded to Twitter and sent shock waves through Japanese social and mass media. The student has since been arrested, and the first thing visitors to Hakata High School's website currently see is a written apology from the school's principal, Kazuhiro Ayabe. However, some critics are calling the principal's statement a tone-deaf gesture that diverts attention from the real problem.

The statement reads:

"An apology regarding the behavior of one of our students, and our response going forward

During class on September 28, an incident occurred in which one of our school's first-year students comitted an act of violence upon a new teacher. The incident was recorded and uploaded to social media, and knowledge of the event spread throughout the Internet.

We deeply apologize to our current students, their guardians, alumni, and all other individuals connected to our school for the discomfort caused by this incident and information that has been spread on the Internet.

Our school has always promoted moral education and taught that violence is absolutely unacceptable. We have also informed students on the dangers of using social media. Regardless, we regrettably failed to prevent this incident. Our guidance was imperfect, and this is truly inexcusable.

We are taking this incident very seriously, and are planning ways to further improve the manner in which we educate students on IT morality, and also to enact a thorough system of faculty coordination and follow-up procedures in order to create a proper educational institution.

We apologize for the disturbance and distress we have caused our current students, their guardians, alumni, and others connected to our school, and ask for your understanding and cooperation going forward."

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