In Japan, where bullying has been a long-standing social problem since the 1980s, to the point that the word "bullying" has appeared, the so-called "bullying insurance" is attracting attention.
According to local foreign media in Japan on the 11th, Tokyo Maritime & Fire Co., Japan's largest non-life insurance company, announced that it will start selling "Ijime Insurance" from this fall.
The official name of this insurance is the "Trouble Prevention Cost Compensation Special Agreement", which pays the admission fee and uniform expenses if a student who has been a victim of school violence transfers to a school, and compensates for lawyer fees and psychological counseling within a certain limit.
A representative of the insurance company said, "In the past, we were selling a product that covered the cost of legal counsel for claiming compensation if you were a victim of harassment. However, there was no compensation that would lead to the mental healing of the victim or the prevention of recurrence, so it was made into a special drug."
He added, "Reimbursement for transfer expenses is something that has not been covered by other insurances until now," adding, "If you do not want to change schools, counseling fee compensation will be helpful."
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According to Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the number of bullying incidents in schools exceeded 2021,61 in 10, the highest ever. That's eight times more than 8 years ago.
In particular, online bullying using smartphones increased by 16% compared to the previous year, and online bullying among elementary school students increased by 2.6 times, compared
to middle and high school students (1.3 ~ 1.4 times). In 2021, a sixth-grade student at an elementary school in Tokyo made an extreme choice by leaving a note saying "I am not your toy," and it was reported that the perpetrators used a learning tablet to continuously send abusive messages to the victim, saying "I feel bad" and "I'm going to die."
As a result of this situation, "Ijime Insurance," which was launched by a Japanese insurance company earlier, has seen a 6.7-fold increase in the number of subscribers this year compared to the first year of its launch, and interest in products related to "harassment" continues.
(Photo = Yonhap News)
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