Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2014 August 13 - 19 [SDF]

Ex-student at GSDF tech high school sues classmates for bullying

A former student at the Ground Self-Defense Force High Technical School (Kanagawa Pref.) on August 13 filed a lawsuit with the Nagoya District Court Okazaki Branch against the state and two classmates demanding compensation for damages due to bullying.

The school, with a boarding system, provides boys aged 15 to 18 with general, engineering, and basic military education. The graduates will serve in the GSDF.

The plaintiff, an 18-year-old living in Aichi Prefecture, in June last year started to be attacked by bullies in his class and received physical punishment from teaching staff. Five months later, he developed an eating disorder and lost weight. He also suffered from anxiety disorder and PTSD, and had to leave the school in April this year.

Claiming that he suffered from mental anguish and had to give up being an SDF officer, he is demanding about seven million yen in compensation.

The plaintiff’s lawyer Katsuta Koji pointed out that SDF personnel working at the school justify the use of physical punishment by saying that they are doing so out of love.

The former student said that there are many students being bullied in the school. He expressed his determination to increase public awareness of bullying in the SDF school through his court battle and to have the school authority improve its operations.