Parents have different ways of dealing with a child's behavior. As for this Japanese family, they believed that leaving their son on the road by the forest would scare him into learning his lesson. Instilling fear into a child is usually the way most parents teach a lesson. In Japan, being strict and stern is thought to be the best way to raise a child and can be seen in different communities. However, we can question the parents' motive in abandoning the child. Did they actually believe he was somehow going to find his way home? Were they trying to teach him a lesson or trying to get out of being his guardians?
It began with Yamato Tania's behavior: the little boy was throwing stones at other cars. This act led to his parents leaving him by the side of the road surrounded by forest in northern Japan on May 29. The little boy was so scared that all he did was cry and panic. His parents assumed he would just follow in their direction but his panicked manner led him to go the other way. Remember that this boy is 7 years old. Many criticize the boy for being too stupid to not follow at his parents direction, but he was too frightened to think properly.
Yamato then walked alongside the road even as it began to get dark. He then found a building near a military base where he stayed through the nights. This 7 year old boy went seven days without food, but survived off of water. He stayed in the building keeping himself warm between two mattresses until someone came looking for him. This was when the search and rescue discovered him and took him to the authorities to get help.
“I walked for about five hours, I think,” Yamato said. After finding the building, “I was cold so I went inside to sleep.”
Upon questioning, his parents they said that it was all for discipline and that they were going to come back for him shortly. But how could a 7-year-old boy on foot be faster then his parents in a car? He walked until it got dark and found a place to sleep. Clearly, his parents took a long time to go back to get him. The parents were obviously irresponsible, as their first story was that he disappeared while they forged for plants—an adorable story in which the boy just got mistakenly lost.
The father, 44-year-old Takayuki Tanooka, said on Monday that he had apologized to his son and that the boy had forgiven him.
This event led to debates throughout Japan concerning rules on discipline. In Japan there is a different culture on how to properly raise a child; discipline is used constantly to make a person stronger and more obedient.
In American culture, we are more aware of how much power a parent can have over a child. Being from a different culture, we view the Japanese parents' consequences as unjust, but looking at it from from strict Japanese culture, there was a lesson to be learned. The parents went about it the wrong way and caused emotional and physical torment, as their boy had to survive alone. The parents were not charged with anything and were able to take their child home after he left the hospital on June 7th. Some people understand the parents' frustration in trying to get the child to behave, while others believe that they were just trying to get rid of the child. The boy is now being praised for his intelligence and bravery for keeping himself alive.
