A Case Study on the Process by which Extracurricular Activities (Bukatsu) Pushed a Junior High School Student to the Emotional Edge

Abstract

Extracurricular activities in Japan have unique characteristics and their own customs. This study describes the process by which a junior high school student, who was a member of a baseball club, became a school truant as a result of various incidents, including inappropriate guidance by a coach during his extracurricular activities. He was diagnosed with orthostatic dysregulation. He was finally able to attend school like other students in the middle of his second year of high school, when he began to attend class actively, and his physical and mental condition gradually recovered after he learned how to relax from a karate instructor outside school. The problems and inconsistencies of a child who takes teachers’ words in good faith but who is unable to go to school are detailed. The significance of confirming that teachers' guidance can be an external factor associated with truancy is discussed.