Teen burns down house over test grades

Mon Jun 26, 8:48 AM ET

TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese boy burned down his home, killing his stepmother and two younger siblings, for fear his parents would find out he had lied about his score on an English test.

The 16-year-old, whose name has not been released, is thought to have set fire to the house in Nara, western Japan, and left his stepmother to die along with his 7-year-old brother and 5-year-old sister, domestic media reports said on Saturday.

The boy's parents had been due to attend a meeting with teachers about his exam results that same day, reports said. The teen-ager told police his father, a doctor, had put him under extreme pressure over his academic performance, Kyodo news agency said.

WHEN WILL OVERBEARING PARENTS LEARN? You drive your children to murder and suicide!

Damn.

My roommate had a former roomie from Japan who was absolutely crazy. She had only had 3 years of English, and instead of taking classes to improve her reading and writing, her mom wanted her to do Pre-Med and expected her to get all As. (And I admit that the college I go to has really difficult academics. A lot of kids in pre-med get C averages, and add that to not being able to understand the language well enough, and that's a lot of trouble). When she arrived to school, all she had was a few pairs of clothing and a few other things, and only a sheet for her bed...not even a pillow! And she never slept b/c she told my roommate that Japanese people didn't need as much sleep as other people did.

After a month, she moved into a single...and her mom came all the way from Japan and spent a month living in the room w/ her, helping her do her homework! And that's when the girl totally snapped. She stole her mom's passport, took a bus to Boston, and was ready to take a plane to Japan (w/ her mom's passport so that she couldn't leave the US to follow her), but the cops found her. The cops came to our room and her mom kept calling us and this other girl who was friends w/ her, but nobody knew where she had gone. I'm surprised that they found her in Boston.

Now she's back in Japan. She didn't even finish a semester w/o breaking down. It's really sad what they make those kids do in Japan. I wouldn't have been able to handle it either.

Growing up I had a japanese friend. He dreaded going back to Japan because of 2 things -(i) the pressure to compete academically - if you didn't get into the University of Tokyo, it was like your life was over - top jobs, success etc. are suddenly out of your grasp for life. And of course how many people in a country of 120m people can actually get in - its like the psycho crowd trying to get into the store at the opening of post-christmas sales, times 1000000000 (ii) The japanese school system is cruel to outsiders - he said he was guaranteed to be picked on because he lived outside of Japan for a few years - there's a high level of teen suicide because of failure to conform in Japan. He turned out fine, but I guess many others buckle under all that pressure at such a young age...

A first grader in Japan has on average, SEVEN times more workload than a first grader in the USA.

So many people want America's school systems to be like Japan. Do we need even more teenagers feeling unworthy and succumbing to pressure?

Our school system has flaws, but it should not try to be like Japan. I've heard about many kids over there that crack trying to be the best academically. We've got to let kids be kids and enjoy their school years.

I'm sorry, but this child IS responsible for his actions.

I don't care if he was pressured by his parents.

I don't care if the workload was tough.

HE BURNED DOWN A HOUSE, PEOPLE!

That is a premeditated act.

He made a CHOICE.

He committed a CRIME.

It's HIS fault.

He did a STUPID thing.

His father shouldn't have been such an ass over the grades. But he shouldn't have burned down the house. The two are two completely different extremes. Guess which one's bigger. (Hint: the house burning thing!!!)

Yes, JSF, but people make irrational decisions for a reason. See your lesser extreme. Responsibility is more than equal in cases like this. It's a whacked out world.

the Japanese school system is insane.

Each level of schooling has difficult entrance exams which determine if your child will get into a good school.

from pre-school to grade school, and then from grade-school to high school, and from high school to college. Thing is, once you get to college it's very layed back compared with what they went through. But it's why they're so smart!

That is a premeditated act.

How do you know that? Were you there?

His father shouldn't have been such an ass over the grades.

Does everything get analysed in a vacuum?

How do you know that? Were you there?

Does everything get analysed in a vacuum?

I wasn't there but, um, he probably had to find some gas, then he probably had to gas the place and then he had to light a match. It's not like he slapped someone out of frustration. He took steps. Steps. To burn down a house. Either way, I don't care if he was impulsive. He's responsible for his actions. What if he killed his father? Should we let him off for that, too? That's my stance.

How do you know that? Were you there?

Does everything get analysed in a vacuum?

only when you're JERSoapsFan

I wasn't there but, um, he probably had to find some gas, then he probably had to gas the place and then he had to light a match. It's not like he slapped someone out of frustration. He took steps. Steps. To burn down a house. Either way, I don't care if he was impulsive. He's responsible for his actions. What if he killed his father? Should we let him off for that, too? That's my stance.

This isn't about letting him off for doing something. Up until now, the discussion had been about the insanity of Japanese education standards compared to Americans. No one was saying whether the kid was right or wrong, then you came bursting in with your usual dish.

I wasn't there but, um, he probably had to find some gas, then he probably had to gas the place and then he had to light a match. It's not like he slapped someone out of frustration. He took steps. Steps. To burn down a house. Either way, I don't care if he was impulsive. He's responsible for his actions. What if he killed his father? Should we let him off for that, too? That's my stance.

Where in this thread did anyone say he should be let off? All the posts, excluding yours, are trying to contextualise why he was driven to such an act, as Keith stated above. Your knee-jerk reaction, that punishment and retribution should be metered out purely on action, says volumes about your black and white thinking. Instead of paying a visit to your local dominatrix for your weekly spanking, I have 3 words of advice for you:

Cognitive. Behavioural. Therapy.