The Ota city board of education in Gunma Prefecture has drawn up its own guidelines for dealing with customer harassment — abusive language and excessive demands aimed at staff — from parents and local residents, Mainichi Shimbun reported. The move follows the revised Labor Policies Comprehensive Promotion Act, which obliges workplaces to take measures against such harassment.
The guidelines define customer harassment at school as opinions and requests from parents or residents whose content lacks validity and whose means or manner go beyond what society generally tolerates. They list verbal abuse and physical violence, posting or publishing the personal information of teachers or pupils on social media without permission, long phone calls and remaining on school grounds, repeating the same demand by phone or email, and requesting class or homeroom teacher changes without a reasonable cause.
When such behavior occurs, schools are to respond with several staff members, led by a manager, and keep records shared among the staff involved. Meetings are to run about 60 minutes in principle, except in emergencies, and phone calls about 30 minutes during weekday working hours.
Where a case is hard for the school to handle alone, the board says the principal may consult its legal adviser by phone or ask the lawyer to sit in on a meeting with parents. The board will notify parents in writing and has made posters for schools to display.
“We want schools, parents and local residents to build better relationships, so that children can study with peace of mind and teachers can get on with their work.”a board official, Ota city board of education