hangman"-like game

[Hamaki]

English teacher used "hangman"-like game at school where student hung himself
The drawing found in the school papers left behind by the student who killed himself.
The drawing found in the school papers left behind by the student who killed himself.

YACHIYO, Chiba -- A foreign English teacher in charge of an English class at Shumei Yachiyo Junior High School is facing criticism after it emerged that the teacher drew pictures of a person being hung (ala the game "Hangman") when students answered incorrectly in class. In 2008, a student at the school hung himself, but the teacher allegedly continued using the game regardless.

The parents of the student who killed himself, meanwhile, are angry. "This kind of teaching is a problem," they have said.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20100722p2a00m0na020000c.html

[Yokohammer]

It's sad that the kid committed suicide, of course, but since more than 30,000 people kill themselves annually in this country it's not an isolated incident.

The way people try to assign blame to anything and anyone other than themselves bugs the crap out of me. Of course the boy's suicidal tendencies had nothing to do with culture or the way he was brought up at home or the way he was treated by other students. No, not possible, especially when there's an opportunity to focus all attention on and draw a tenuous link to a non-Japanese cause, thereby absolving Japan and its pure-spirited society of all blame in one convenient swoop.

Even if this is discussed in the context of the Japanese school system, where does it lead? Will teachers eventually be prohibited from using the words "hang" or "dangle" or "rope" with students in any situation because there's a very, very slight chance that upon hearing one of these words students will run out and kill themselves?

Sure, that makes sense.

[AssKissinger]

If I knew that one their friends hanged himself, you know, I wouldn't play that game. He might not have even known.

[kotaro]

[Ketou]

[TennoChinko]

Such cultural insensitivity!

That foreign teacher needs some serious re-training.

The preferred games in Japan to foster learning would be:

Train man


Jump man


Stab man

[Greji]

Stab man

Glad you left the Stab man label on that. I would have not realized what he was doing. I just thought he was having a ritualized wank....

[sublight]

Jump man

"In Japan, the notion of kawaii is so ingrained that suicides will make efforts to ensure that they bleed pink."