 Science & Technology || Search || Back Numbers SCHOOLBOY "KNIFE RAGE": Violence Among Young Teens Is on the Rise April 1, 1998 
Butterfly knives have become spotlighted as the offending weapon in many of the recent teenage crimes. (Photo: Kyodo) A spate of violent crimes commmitted by teenagers throughout the country has shocked Japan. In late January, a seventh-grade student fatally stabbed one of his female teachers, a tenth-grader assaulted a female classmate with a knife, and a ninth-grader stabbed a policeman while attempting to steal his handgun--all in the space of one week. In each case the minors involved habitually carried folding knives with them, had no record of delinquency, and appeared to have suddenly lost their self-control. In the light of the seriousness of these crimes, many local governments have initiated a move to designate some folding knives as "harmful toys" and to prohibit their sale to minors. Jump in Violent Crimes According to a survey by the Ministry of Education, violence at school became a social problem during the early 1980s, when the reported rate of incidence of violent acts among all middle and high schools was over 10%. The figure fell below 10% during the late 1980s and early 1990s, but it began rising again in 1994. During the 1996 school year (April 1996 to March 1997) there was a 17.7% rate of incidence at Japan's middle schools, which reported 8,169 cases of violence, an increase of 37.2% from the previous year, and a 22.0% rate of incidence at high schools, where there were 2,406 violent incidents, a 15.8% increase. The recent spate of knife crimes is part of this growing trend of youth
violence. Blade-related incidents began rising last year, revealing a shift
to more lethal expressions of rage.
The Central Education Council, a consultative organ to the Minister of Education, has been deliberating ways to "foster emotional growth in children starting at the preschool level" ever since a middle school student was charged in July 1997 with the murders of two elementary schoolchildren in Kobe. Spurred by the knife-related incidents, a council subcommittee chairman on February 3 commented on the issue of discipline at home, proposing increased input from both parents on raising children and further efforts to teach children self-restraint. In order to prevent teenagers' violent crimes from recurring, there is a need to devote serious attention to this issue in schools, at home, and among education authorities. Edited by Japan Echo Inc. based on domestic
Japanese news sources. Articles presented here are offered for reference
purposes and do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese
Government.
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