[Japanese Side] 9 Years of School Refusal Due to Inability to Adapt... "Hope to Be Courage for Others Too"

Award Winners of the Trending 'School Refusal Championship'
9 Years of School Refusal Due to Adaptation Issues... Healing Wounds with Mother's Love

Recently in Japan, a 'School Refusal Student Rights Contest' was held, attracting attention. This contest invited 'school refusal students' who do not attend school due to their own circumstances to submit videos sharing their stories. The theme of the contest was 'From me who hates going to school, to you who hates going to school.'

Itsuki (a pseudonym), 17 years old, uploaded a video of a conversation with his mother after 9 years of school refusal and won an award at the event last month. It moved many people and became a hot topic.

Today, we share the story Itsuki, who hated going to school, wants to tell other students.

Itsuki (pseudonym) attempting to interview his mother.
Photo by NHK

According to NHK broadcasting, Itsuki has disliked crowded places since childhood. Although he liked studying, he felt frustrated because his body would not move when trying to go to school. He had thought to himself, "I am a strange person," and "I am a misfit."

While attending elementary school, Itsuki declared school refusal and has not attended school for 9 years. Instead, he enrolled in a 'correspondence high school' that offers cyber classes for students who cannot adapt to group life or have difficulties attending school due to family circumstances, continuing his studies.

At first, he tried to go to school together with his mother, but his body froze and he could not move from the entrance. Itsuki said, "I didn’t know why, and wondered why I couldn’t go to school. Was I a worthless person?" He felt frustrated by his own inability. Even when he mustered courage to go to school after a long time, classmates would say, "Why did he come to school today?" and after struggling to reach the school gate, the teacher’s words, "Let’s cheer up and go to the classroom," all hurt him.

By participating in this student rights contest, Itsuki said he finally confronted his past self. During the vicious cycle of hating himself for not going or being unable to go to school, he had a conversation with his mother who always believed in him. He asked about his thoughts on refusing to attend school, something he had never asked his mother in 9 years.

Works submitted to the Student Rights Conference for School Refusal. (Photo by NHK)

Itsuki’s mother began by saying, "At first, I tried to force him to go to school. I thought things would change if I took him there." When Itsuki asked, "What do you think about my truancy?" she gave an unexpected answer: "I don’t mind at all."

She said, "Whether he goes to school or not, a person doesn’t change," and "I worried too, but during the time he didn’t go to school, we had many moments together, and above all, I was grateful that Itsuki was always by my side as I raised him." By exchanging these heartfelt feelings with his mother, which they had not shared for 9 years, Itsuki was able to shake off all guilt.

Itsuki’s interview became a hot topic to the extent that he received a certificate of commendation from the representative of a parent organization for children refusing to attend school. He expressed his award acceptance by saying, "I want to tell my past self, ‘It’s okay. If you believe in yourself and make your choices, the future will be fine.’"

The contest received 352 video submissions from all over Japan, and the videos were viewed over 10 million times, drawing public support.

While this may seem strange in our country, which emphasizes attendance, it could be an opportunity to consider how to manage students who cannot adapt to school and fall outside the formal system.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.