Covering the business of education and training

It's a cute platitude to say "how do you put a value on someone's life". And I appreciate your encouraging people to think about it like that. Ie, that even if the school that created an environment that encouraged or allowed an extreme case of continuous bullying to occur, should pay some amount of reparations to the victim's parents, this doesn't undo the emotional pain of being bullied that allegedly lead to the suicide.

However, in one sense, your statement is completely irrelevant. The practical question is not whether it completely erases the tragedy. The practical question is exactly what amount, if any, the government (public school) should pay the victim's parents. Whether it was the teachers being bullies, or being negligent in allowing other kids to continuously bully the victim, or some combination... If the parents are genuine innocent victims of the tragedy (ie, if it wasn't mostly their own bullying or negligence that caused the kid to be so depressed)... Then, yes, I think it is perfectly reasonable for the victim's parents to get some amount of reparations payment from the government/school, to make up for the tragedy, and help them move on with the other aspects of their lives. And if the bullies parents are significantly at fault for the tragedy too, then it's not unreasonable for them to pay some amount to the victim's parents.

I'm not an advocate of revenge and punishment centric legal philosophies. I think it's more about whether the victim's parents deserve how much, based on how much they were unjustly harmed, and who should pay which parts of it.

Current exchange rates says 110 million yen is 1.42582 million US dollars. Assuming Japan has a comparable standard of living etc... $1.42 million sounds frankly obscene, especially if it was the bully's parents rather than the government. $31,108.80 U.S. dollars (2.4 million yen) doesn't seem unreasonable from the bullies' parents', depending on the details, and to what extent the bully's parents are at fault in terms of creating a violent family environment that encourages bullying.

8.6 million yen is $111,473.20 U.S. dollars, and that's probably more along the lines of what the parents should get, and it's not an obscene amount for a government to pay it. If the two parents each make $55,736.60/yr, then $111,473.20 is about one year's worth of salary for the two parents.

So, at a cursory glance, I think the court's actions potentially sound reasonable. Of course it would depend on the details of the situation. For example, if the child commited suicide becaues his parents' were mean and oppressive to him (which is still pretty common), then it would be their own fault. For example, if the bully's parents weren't mean or negligent, and can't be blamed as much for the bullying, then maybe they should pay even less. And depending on the details of the bullies, the bully might need to go to a rehabilitation-focused school. Unfortunately, impression of existing juvenile detention environments is that they tend treat the kids like crap and make things worse, so that's also something that we as a society should work to improve.

thank you reading my comment