Programme For International Student Assessment Pisa / Sample Reading Passage 10: Bullying


The article below appeared in a Japanese newspaper in 1996. Refer to it to answer the questions that follow. 

 

Parents lack awareness of bullying

Only one in three parents polled is aware of bullying involving their children, according to an Education Ministry survey released on Wednesday. 



The survey, conducted between December 1994  and January 1995, involved some 19,000 parents,  teachers and children at primary, junior and senior  high schools where bullying has occurred. 

The survey, the first of its kind conducted by  the Ministry, covered students from the fourth  grade up. According to the survey, 22 per cent of  the primary school children polled said they face  bullying, compared with 13 per cent of junior high  school children and 4 per cent of senior high school  students. 

On the other hand, some 26 per cent of the  primary school children said they have bullied, with  the percentage decreasing to 20 per cent for junior  high school children and 6 per cent for senior high  school students. 

Of those who replied that they have been bullies, between 39 and 65 per cent said they also have  been bullied. 

The survey indicated that 37 per cent of the  parents of bullied primary school children were  aware of bullying targeted at their children. The  figure was 34 per cent for the parents of junior  high school children and 18 per cent for those of  the senior high school students. 

Source: Kyodo, The Japan Times Ltd., Tokyo, 23rd May, 1996. 

Of the parents aware of the bullying, 14 per cent  to 18 per cent said they had been told of bullying  by teachers. Only 3 per cent to 4 per cent of the  parents learned of the bullying from their children,  according to the survey. 

The survey also found that 42 per cent of primary  school teachers are not aware of bullying aimed at  their students. The portion of such teachers was 29  per cent at junior high schools and 69 per cent at  senior high schools. 

Asked for the reason behind bullying, about 85  per cent of the teachers cited a lack of education at  home. Many parents singled out a lack of a sense  of justice and compassion among children as the  main reason. 

An Education Ministry official said the findings  suggest that parents and teachers should have  closer contact with children to prevent bullying. 

School bullying became a major issue in Japan  after 13-year-old Kiyoteru Okouchi hanged himself  in Nishio, Aichi Prefecture, in the fall of 1994,  leaving a note saying that classmates had repeatedly  dunked him in a nearby river and extorted money  from him. 

The bullying-suicide prompted the Education Ministry to issue a report on bullying in March 1995 urging teachers to order bullies not to come  to school. 

 

Non MCQ Question:

Why does the article mention the death of Kiyoteru Okouchi? 



In the graph above, what percentage of teachers at each type of school was not aware that their students were being bullied? Choose the alternative (A, B, C or D) which best represents this.

B
C
D
A