June 3, 2004 - 10:15 AM

Internet blamed over Japan school killing

By George Nishiyama

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese media have turned to the Internet as a
culprit in the shocking killing of a 12-year-old girl by her
classmate this week, as trouble over messages posted on a Web site
emerged as a possible motive.

The 11-year-old girl who killed Satomi Mitarai by slashing her
throat at their primary school in southern Japan on Tuesday told
police she killed her friend because she was angry about a message
posted on a Web site, newspapers said.

Media reports on Thursday said both girls had their own Web sites
and took part in online chatrooms, the use of which is proliferating
in Japan even among primary school students.

The Internet has already become a part of life for Japanese
children. Almost all public schools have access to the Web and
government data shows that over 60 percent of children aged between
six and 12 use the Internet.

Experts say communicating via the Internet can stimulate
emotional reactions and warn that users should take extra care not
needed in face-to-face conversations.

"When you talk with your friends in the classroom, you look at
their faces. So you can tell if they're serious or joking, or angry
or laughing, from their expressions or tone of voice," the Internet
Association Japan, a non-profit organisation, says in its "Rules and
Manners for Children using the Internet".

"But with the Internet, you can't hear your friends' voices or
see their faces... What you wrote as a joke can make your friend
angry."

Media said the 11-year-old had told investigators she asked
Satomi not to write messages about her appearance on an Internet
bulletin board, but that her friend had refused to stop.

HIGH-TECH SCAPEGOAT?

Satomi died from loss of blood after her classmate slashed her
throat with a knife during the lunch break on Tuesday at their school
in Sasebo, 980 km (610 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

"I tried to blindfold her with a towel, but she refused, so I
covered her eyes with my hand," Kyodo news agency quoted the girl as
telling investigators.

Some experts, however, said the Internet was being wrongly blamed
for what is the latest in a series of high-profile juvenile crimes
that have shocked Japan and forced it to search for answers.

"It is true that the Internet can be a factor in increasing
emotional reactions, but the more basic problem is that of an
inability to communicate skilfully with another human being," said
Tatsuo Inamasu, a professor at Tokyo's Hosei University.

"The reports say that the trigger was a comment on the Internet,
but there must have been a lot that went before."

Inamasu, who specialises in media studies, also said many parents
and teachers put the blame on computers as they do not understand
well how to use them.

"I don't think we can blame computers for causing a murder."