Media News - Thursday, April 17, 2008

Japan tackles unauthorized school Web sites

Japan has more than 38,000 unofficial middle and high school Web sites that are not overseen by the schools, an Education Ministry survey shows, and many are used for bullying and contain sexual content and violent slang. Online bullying, where hateful messages and pictures are posted on Web sites and abusive e-mails are sent through mobile phones and the Internet, has been a problem in Japan, which has around 15,000 middle and high schools. The Education Ministry survey showed that out of the 2,000 Web sites examined in depth, half contained hateful messages, almost 40 percent had sexual slang and a quarter carried violent words, like "drop dead" and "I'll kill you." Most of the unofficial sites were set up by students. Out of about 1,500 middle and high school students who responded to the survey, a quarter said they look at unofficial school Web pages and 14 percent said they posted messages there. The chief cabinet secretary, Nobutaka Machimura, who serves as the government spokesman, said it was not easy for the government to respond to the emergence of the Web sites. "There are some countries that could just shut them down straightaway. But Japan cannot legally do that," he said. "I think it is a question of the morals of the children and the parents who use them." (Reuters via International Herald Tribune)

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