世論 What Japan Thinks

I’m gobsmacked that a smack in the gob is considered acceptable corporal punishment by about three in five Japanese! This is just one result from a genuinely shocking survey on corporal punishment.

Demographics

Between the 23rd and 25th of June 2008 467 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a pirvate internet-based questionnaire. 52% of the sample were male, 13.9% in their twenties, 46.0% in their thirties, 31.9% in their forties, and 8.1% of other ages.

I hope I’m not making a huge mistake with the translation here, as the results are so counter-intuitive to my western mind. In Q4, I think the question is what people think is appropriate as a means of punishment for students. Any advice on the correctness or otherwise of this assumption is most welcome. I’m also a bit shakey on Q2.

The Japanese phrase used for corporal punishment in this survey is 愛のムチ, ai no muchi, which translated as “tough love”. According to Japanese law I believe it is banned in school, although according to many people I know who work in Japanese schools it is very much alive and kicking.

Research results

Q1: Do you have children? (Sample size=467)

Yes	31.5%
No	68.5%

The survey actually had a more detailed breakdown by age ranges, but I have omitted it.

Q2: Do you think there should be corporal punishment from teachers? (Sample size=467)

	All	Male N=243	Female N=224
Yes	54.0%	60.1%	47.3%
No	18.8%	21.0%	16.5%
Can’t say either way	27.2%	18.9%	36.2%

For those with children, those with ones in elementary school years 4 to 6 were most in favour of corporal punishment. The same percentage of people were in favour regards of whether or not they were parents, but parents were more likely to be opposed to it; non-parents were more non-committal.

Q3: Did you receive corporal punishment from teachers when you were at school? (Sample size=467)

	All	Male N=243	Female N=224
Yes	69.6%	76.1%	62.5%
No	18.8%	14.0%	24.1%
Can’t remember	11.6%	9.9%	13.4%

Those who were on the receiving end at school were over twice as likely to favour corporal punishment, and three times less likely to be against it.

Q4: Select which of the following you think is corporal punishment? (Sample size=467, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=243	Female N=224
Being made to stand in the corridor	60.6%	67.1%	53.6%
Punch to the head	57.4%	63.8%	50.4%
Being made to sit seiza	55.5%	59.7%	50.9%
Being hit on the head by a textbook	44.8%	51.0%	37.9%
Slap	39.4%	49.4%	28.6%
Being made to run around the schoolyard	39.4%	43.6%	34.8%
Throwing a punch (no injury)	18.8%	22.6%	14.7%
Throwing chalk	18.4%	23.0%	13.4%
Pulling hair	6.6%	9.5%	3.6%
Other	18.6%	18.1%	19.2%

The throwing a punch I think is more a poke with a fist (hitting a pressure point or something) rather than a full-blown swing.