The number of bullying cases involving students in Japan that led to individuals being probed by police hit 292 in 2023, a sharp rise from the previous year and the highest level in 10 years, police data showed Thursday.
The total cases among students of elementary, junior high and high schools increased by 116 from the year before, after the education ministry made a request last year for schools to work more closely with police on bullying-related incidents.
The number of people between 14 and 19 years of age suspected of violating cannabis or related laws also climbed to a record high of 1,222 in 2023, up by 310 from the year before, the National Police Agency said.
The agency plans to focus on disseminating information concerning the dangers of cannabis to first-year high school students, as the number of alleged offenders tends to rise in cohorts aged 16 and older, it said.
Of the 292 cases of bullying, assault was the most common with 102, followed by 60 involving bodily harm and 46 involving suspected violations of the child prostitution and pornography law.
Among a total of 404 people either criminally investigated or placed in protective custody, 125 were elementary school students, 189 were from junior high schools and 90 were from high schools.
In February 2023, the education ministry specified 19 examples of malicious bullying that could warrant police involvement and included a list of crimes such cases could fall under, including assault if a student were to punch a classmate as a prank.
The ministry emphasized that reporting cases to the police "would be recognized as responding to them appropriately" and urged schools and police forces to assign a point of contact.
According to the police agency, 1,665 people under the age of 18 got involved in 2023 in crimes after becoming acquainted with someone they previously did not know via social media. Of them, 139 were elementary school students between 8 and 12 years old, with the figure having jumped 3.7-fold from 38 in 2014.
The spread of social media is believed to be behind the recent surge, with the majority of cases related to sexual crimes including child prostitution, child pornography, sex without consent and sexual assault.
As a notable number of elementary school students were being contacted by suspects via TikTok and online games, police plan to raise awareness regarding what is considered appropriate internet use, the agency said.
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