大阪体罰自殺 教師による犯罪ではないのか

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Jan. 12, 2013)
Physical punishment of students must never be allowed in schools
大阪体罰自殺　教師による犯罪ではないのか（1月11日付・読売社説）

A place of education has been desecrated by an incident that should never have occurred.
　教育現場であってはならない事態が起きた。

A second-year student of an Osaka municipal high school committed suicide a day after he was given corporal punishment by a male teacher who is the head coach of the school's basketball club, to which the student belonged.
　大阪市の市立高校２年の男子生徒が、所属するバスケットボール部顧問の男性教師から体罰を受け、その翌日に自殺した。

A letter he left for the teacher says, "[The teacher's] physical punishments are too painful." The Osaka City Board of Education currently sees the corporal punishments as the main factor behind the boy's suicide. The police have started an investigation into the matter. The truth must be thoroughly uncovered.
　生徒が残した教師あての手紙には「体罰がつらい」という内容の記述があった。大阪市教育委員会は、体罰が自殺の主な要因とみている。警察も捜査を始めた。事実関係の徹底解明が求められる。

According to the city's board of education, the teacher had punished the boy by slapping him in the face when he made mistakes in basketball games. On the day before his suicide, the boy reportedly told his mother: "I was slapped 30 to 40 times."
　市教委によると、教師はこれまで、試合で生徒がミスをすると、頬を平手でたたく体罰を加えた。自殺した前日にも、生徒は母親に「３０～４０発ぐらいたたかれた」と話していたという。

===

Inexcusable violent acts

The teacher explained himself to the education board by saying, for example, that he was trying to "motivate" the boy. However, such clearly violent acts go beyond coaching students, and should not be allowed for any reason.
　教師は市教委に「発奮させようと思った」などと説明している。しかし、指導の一線を越えた許されぬ暴力行為というほかない。

The School Education Law clearly prohibits physical punishment. Instruction through violence cannot foster a normal sense of ethics in children. To the contrary, it may implant fearful emotions or a rebellious spirit in children's minds.
　学校教育法は体罰を明確に禁じている。暴力による指導では、子供たちの正常な倫理観を養うことができず、かえって恐怖心や反抗心を植え付けかねないからだ。

After the student's suicide, the high school took a survey of 50 members of the basketball club, to which 21 students replied they were also given physical punishments. This fact raises the suspicion that the teacher had regularly given corporal punishments. The supervisory responsibility of the school's principal and other teachers superior to the teacher involved must also be strictly questioned.
　生徒の自殺後、学校が部員５０人に行ったアンケートでは、「自分も体罰を受けた」と回答した部員が２１人もいた。体罰が常態化していた疑いが強い。校長らの管理責任も厳しく問われよう。

Information on physical punishment by this teacher was given to the Osaka municipal government two years ago. Despite this, the school only interviewed the teacher and did not ask students in the club about the punishments. The school concluded there was no corporal punishment. The city's board of education accepted a report by the school at face value.
　この教師については、一昨年にも体罰情報が市に寄せられていた。それにもかかわらず、学校側は教師から事情を聞いただけで、部員からの聞き取りをせず、「体罰はなかった」と結論づけた。市教委も報告をうのみにした。

These responses were quite sloppy. If a more in-depth investigation had been conducted at that time, the recent tragedy could have been avoided. It was quite natural for Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto to have remarked, "This is the worst catastrophe for a place of education."
　極めてずさんな対応である。この時、踏み込んだ調査をしていれば、今回の悲劇を防ぐことができた可能性もある。大阪市の橋下徹市長が「教育現場の最悪の大失態だ」と指摘したのは当然だ。

===

Not the 1st case

At the same municipal high school, nationally known for its powerful sports teams, a case of physical punishment by another male teacher, a volleyball club coach, was revealed previously. The teacher was disciplined with a three-month suspension from work.
　スポーツの強豪として知られるこの市立高校では以前にも、男子バレーボール部顧問の男性教師による体罰が発覚した。教師は停職３か月の懲戒処分を受けた。

There might have been a tendency at the school to allow physical punishments in the name of winning-is-the-only-thing coaching.
　行き過ぎた勝利至上主義によって、指導の名の下に体罰を容認する風潮があったのではないか。

Every year about 400 teachers and other education-related personnel at public primary, middle and high schools are disciplined nationwide for giving physical punishments. The number has shown no tendency to decline.
　体罰を理由に処分された教職員数は、全国で毎年４００人前後に上る。減少傾向は見られない。

The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry must once again thoroughly instruct schools to enforce the prohibition on physical punishments.
　文部科学省は体罰の禁止を改めて徹底すべきだ。

At schools, cases of students using violence against teachers are a timeless problem. There are surely occasions when teachers must be stern in their dealings with students.
　教育現場では生徒が教師に暴力を振るう事例も後を絶たない。教師が毅然(きぜん)とした態度で指導しなければならない場面もあろう。

Yet teachers must recognize afresh that corporal punishments, which inflict physical pain on students, should never be allowed under any circumstances.
　ただ、肉体的苦痛を与える体罰は、いかなるケースでも認められないことを、教師は再認識する必要がある。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Jan. 11, 2013)
（2013年1月11日01時20分  読売新聞）