第21回 WORKSHOP報告(9月3日) / 参加者58名

みなさんこんにちは! 
3日に行われた第21回workshopの
開催報告をさせていただきますね。

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参加者 : 58名

うち新人の方 : 9名

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この日は台風の影響で前日から
開催が危ぶまれましたが、当日
会場に電話したところ、問題なく
使用できるとのことだったので、
雨は心配でしたが、開催させて
いただきました。

遠方の方からキャンセルのご連絡も
いただきましたが、最終的には
この天候にも関わらず、新人の方
9名を含む58名の方々にご参加
いただきました!

<前半>
この日の前半は、新聞でおなじみの
「人生案内」のコーナーを英語で
やってみました。

読者が投稿した質問に、大学教授や
カウンセラーが質問に答えるあの
コーナーです。

今回の題材は読売新聞の「人生案内」
のコーナーで扱った質問を、グループの
一人が英語に訳してその内容をグループの
他のメンバーに伝え、それを聞いたメンバーが
英語で解決方法をディスカッションする、という
形にしました。

質問が結構長いものもありましたので、
グループによっては、説明に時間が
かかっていましたが、要点をまとめて
メンバーに説明することも、ポイントを
短い時間でとらえて英語で発言する
いい練習になったのではないでしょうか。

読売新聞のウェブサイトでは、人生案内の
ページもありますが、主に女性からの
質問が多い「発言小町」というコーナーが
あります。こちらは人生案内のコーナーよりも
もっと個人的でカジュアルな質問が多く
思わず笑ってしまうこともある興味深い
コーナーです。こちらからの質問も
今回の前半で一つ取り上げました。

<後半>
後半は女性のスタッフの一人Yさんに
児童虐待について取り上げていただきました。
彼女は最近児童福祉施設を訪問する機会が
あったそうで、施設のスタッフから児童虐待の
現状を聞いて、今回のマテリアル作成に
至ったそうです。

意外にも、これまであまり取り上げられなかった
議題で、個人的な経験も含め、様々な
意見がでました。

Aテーブルでは教育関係者が4名おり
これまでの経験談も交えて、児童虐待の
実情を議論しました。

私が一番ショックだったデータは
下記のwikipediaのデータでした。

「虐待者の学歴は中卒が34.3%と最も多く、
大卒は2.4%であり、性的虐待では、
虐待者の9割近くが中卒である。
経済状況では52.5%が貧困層、
普通は31.5%、裕福な層は2.6%である」

経済状況と虐待の相関関係は
意識していましたが、実際に
これだけの数字で表されると
驚きでした。

それでは今回の案内メールを
ご覧ください。

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<英語サークル E’s club 第21回workshopのご案内>
 
みなさまこんにちは、E’s club幹事のKです。第21回workshopの詳細をお送りいたします。
今回のマテリアルは前半をNさんが、後半をYさんが作成しました。
前半は人生相談を英語でやってみます。後半は子供の虐待をテーマとしたディスカッションです。
 
[今週のマテリアル]
 
<First half>
今回の前半は「人生相談」です。みなさん新聞の「お悩み相談」や「人生相談」をご覧になったことがありますか?そうです。家族や職場の悩みを紙面上で大学教授や専門家などに相談するあのコーナーです。今回はこの「人生相談」を英語でやってみたいと思います。

(1) Make groups of 4 people.

(2) Introduce each other(about five minutes for all.)

(3) Distribute 4 cards on which “problems” are written in Japanese to each group.

(4) Pick a card and explain the “problem” to other members in your group in English.

(5) Discuss solutions to the “problem”.(seven to eight minutes for each “problem”)

(6) Change a member who explain a “problem” and repeat (4)~(5).

※カードは当日テーブルごとにお渡しします。質問内容は当日まで伏せておきます。
 
 
<Latter half>
[Agenda] How Can We Stop Increasing the Number of Cases of Child Abuse in Japan?
Q1…What is “child abuse”? Please share anything you know about the issue in your group.
 
Q2…Why does this happen? Please discuss the causes of this matter.
 
Q3…Based on the discussion above (Q2), what is the most likely cause of child abuse and why?
 
Q4…Considering the answer for Q3, how can we decrease the number of cases of child abuse?
 
<Article 1>
Child abuse cases in FY10 hit record / Greater public awareness said behind surge
The Yomiuri Shimbun

Child consultation centers across the nation handled a record 55,152 cases of child abuse in fiscal 2010, up 10,941 from the previous year, according to an interim report released Wednesday.

The report by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said the surge in cases stemmed from “increased public awareness of child abuse that resulted in more reports being made by neighbors and other concerned people.”

The fiscal 2010 figure did not include cases in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures and in Sendai, because data collection could not be completed due to the Great East Japan Earthquake.

A total of about 1,150 cases were reported in the two prefectures and the city in the previous fiscal year. After excluding this figure, the national total effectively increased by 28 percent from the previous year.

Last year, a string of serious child abuse cases horrified the public, including the case of a little girl and her young brother who starved to death after they were left unattended in an apartment in Nishi Ward, Osaka.

The ministry said the increase in cases reported in fiscal 2010 apparently reflected greater public awareness–triggered by these cases–about preventing child abuse.

In fiscal 2009, 49 children died in 47 child abuse cases. These figures were down 18 and 17, respectively, from fiscal 2008.

But the centers had some connection to 12 of the fatal cases, or 25.5 percent, such as receiving requests for advice. The percentage rose by 14.6 percentage points.

In seven cases, the centers were aware a child was being abused or had detected the possibility of abuse.

The findings shed light again on the fact that child consultation centers are unable to keep up with the increase in child abuse cases.

“In many cases, consultation center staffers in charge of individual children are transferred elsewhere after a short period of time,” a ministry official said. “It’s difficult for these staffers to accumulate experience and expertise in handling cases. We need more experienced staffers.”

Since April 2008, prefectural governors have been empowered to summon parents suspected of abusing their children. This step was taken in 50 cases in fiscal 2010, a 2.4-fold increase from the previous year.

(Jul. 21, 2011) http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110720005446.htm
 
 
<Article 2>
Do foster parents need more help? / Suspected beating death of 3-yr-old puts focus on foster system’s shortcomings
The Yomiuri Shimbun

The arrest of a voice actress in Tokyo last week on suspicion of causing her 3-year-old foster daughter’s death through physical abuse has turned a spotlight on various problems with the foster parent system.

The role of foster parent can be very difficult, and efforts by the central and local governments to prepare people for the challenge are far from sufficient.

According to police, voice actress Shizuka Suzuike, 43, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of fatally abusing her foster daughter, Miyuki Watanabe, on Aug. 24 last year at her house in Suginami Ward, Tokyo. She was turned over to the public prosecutor’s office on Sunday.

According to police, Miyuki was found dead at the bottom of a spiral staircase in Suzuike’s house on Aug. 24 last year. Suzuike claimed the girl had fallen down the stairs, but the nature of the girl’s physical injuries and other evidence caused the police to suspect Suzuike’s story was untrue.

Under the foster parent system described by the Child Welfare Law, foster parents are selected by prefectural governments. As of March last year, 3,836 children in the nation were being raised by foster parents, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. That figure was about 1.8 times higher than 10 years earlier.

Conditions for being a foster parent, as stipulated by the Tokyo metropolitan government, are that the person be 25 to 65 years old and have a stable income.

An applicant’s family situation, employment status and motive for becoming a foster parent are also considered by the children’s consultation office when assessing an application to become a foster parent.

Approved applicants are obliged to undergo training at an orphanage.

According to the Tokyo metropolitan government, Suzuike applied to become a foster parent in November 2007, saying: “I’ve almost finished raising my children. I want to contribute to society.”

She was approved as a foster parent by the Tokyo metropolitan government, and in September 2009, Suzuike took in 2-year-old Miyuki from an infant home to raise as her foster child.

Also living in the Suginami Ward house were Suzuike’s 42-year-old husband and two daughters, aged 16 and 13, according to police.

On her blog, Suzuike referred to Miyuki as “satogo” (foster child). She wrote: “Honestly speaking, I’m having trouble [raising Miyuki],” and, “When I’m looking at satogo, I feel like there are some things I can’t see.”

A case officer from the Suginami Ward children’s consultation office had meetings with Suzuike, but was unaware of the feelings Suzuike had written about in her blog.

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In defense of foster parents

A 52-year-old woman in Fukushima Prefecture spoke to The Yomiuri Shimbun about her experience as a foster mother, and admitted she had hit her foster son, a third-year primary school student.

“It could happen to anybody–raising a hand [to your foster child],” said the woman, who had previously taken in two other foster children.

Her foster son would frequently say, “I’d be better off dead.” The woman was at a loss for how to react, and at times her frustration was such that she struck the boy.

Over time, however, she came to understand that the boy’s troubled emotional state was because he had never felt loved by his biological parents.

“It’s important to wait until children adjust [to their foster family]. I understood this for the first time after struggling with raising the boy,” she said.

The welfare ministry is planning to encourage more people to be foster parents, due to the belief children benefit from being raised in a “traditional” home environment. However, staff shortages at consultation offices mean it is difficult to assign case officers to all foster families.

Seizo Hirose, president of the National Foster Parent Association of Japan, said many foster parents who have problems with their foster children are reluctant to discuss the issues with consultation center staff, because they worry their foster children might be taken away from them. Hirose said foster parents should be given more opportunities to discuss their troubles.

Kanako Suzuki, director at the Suginami Ward children’s consultation office, said at a press conference on Saturday, “We want to prepare a system that will enable us to hear foster parents’ true feelings.”

Prof. Reiho Kashiwame at Shukutoku University, an expert in child welfare, said, “It’s necessary to set up organizations that support foster parents, including nonprofit organizations and social welfare corporations.”

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Police suspect cover-up

According to police, Miyuki’s body was found on the basement floor of Suzuike’s house, at the bottom of a spiral staircase, early in the morning of Aug. 24 last year.

Suzuike told the police Miyuki had fallen down the stairs. But the police thought this was unlikely, as this scenario would have meant the 3-year-old girl had climbed over the staircase handrail.

There were no scratches on Miyuki’s hands or feet, but her face was covered in bruises. The police suspected Suzuike had punched the child.

At about 5 p.m. the previous evening, Suzuike, her 13-year-old daughter and Miyuki had dinner at home together, according to police. The 13-year-old then went to a cram school and returned home about 8 p.m., when she saw Miyuki lying on a futon, according to the police.

The police suspect Suzuike beat Miyuki while she was at home alone with the girl. They suspect Suzuike later realized Miyuki was dead, and moved the body from the futon to the basement.

Suzuike has denied the allegations, and told the police, “I didn’t do anything.”

(Aug. 23, 2011) http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110822005601.htm