tion for others. To ensure that actions deemed impermissible by society as a whole are also deemed impermissible by children, resolute guidance should be offered in addressing problem behavior to foster understanding of the need to obey laws and rules.

MEXT has been endeavoring to enhance measures in collaboration/cooperation with other ministries and agencies in line with National Youth Development Policy approved by the government in December 2003 and the Action Plan to Realize a Society Equipped to Fight Crime.

MEXT is taking measures, such as developing community-based support systems (see Part 4 [4] in this Chapter). In regard to school education, leading measures are:

(1) enhancing moral education and promoting experiential activities,

(2) improving the educational counseling system by allocation of school counselors, etc., and

(3) establishing support teams comprising of schools, boards of education, and other relevant organizations (probation officers, a consultation office for children, police, etc.) to deal with individual schoolchildren with behavioral problems.

In regard to youth support, MEXT has informed boards of education of the understanding which was agreed in September 2004 as “Development of a Youth Support System through Cooperation between Relevant Organization” at the Division Director Meeting on Youth Delinquency Countermeasures (a division director-level meeting hosted by the Cabinet Office) attended by various ministry and agency representatives to promote their measures.

As regard to education by local communities and families, MEXT supports the development of safe and secure children’s spaces (activity spots) (see Part 3 [2] in this Chapter). It also entrusts local governments with projects which give opportunities to be troubled youth by collaborating and cooperating with community volunteer groups, youth groups, and sports clubs to combat juvenile delinquency. In addition, it implements “programs to build spaces for ongoing activities involving juvenile delinquents that support the rehabilitation of these youths”, and prepares and distributes “Pocketbooks for Home Education” as collections of valuable hints on parenting (see Part 5 of this Chapter).

## (4) Measures to Counter Harmful Environments Surrounding Youths

The social environments surrounding young people are said to have a strong impact on the formation of the character of young people in the course of their development. Above all, information thought harmful to young people – depictions of sex and violence in television programs, Internet websites, video games and other media – is regarded as one reason behind the growing seriousness of youth delinquency and constitutes a major problem for the sound development of youth. There are also concerns about the adverse impact on character development of information not plainly acknowledged as “harmful” for children, such as scenes of violence repeatedly shown in game software and video games, because it has become a regular part of their day-to-day lives. Organizations connected with television programs, Internet, video games and other media are being asked to adopt voluntary approaches to ascertaining the degree of impact and to creating a better environment for the sound development of youth.

The April 2004 Division Director Meeting on Measures to Nurture Youth (a division director-level meeting hosted by the Cabinet Office) attended by various ministry and agency representatives reached an understanding on “Guidelines on Improving the Environment Surrounding Youth” to pursue measures designed to counter the harmful environment surrounding youths set down in the Outline of Measures to Nurture Youth approved on December 2003. The Guidelines summarize matters to be addressed by the national government as well as requests to be made of local governments and relevant industry organizations by the national government; these requests have subsequently been submitted in writing.

Since 1998, MEXT has requested that the movie, television, video and other relevant industries adopt stronger voluntary constraints and has requested economic organizations to consider when becoming sponsors. To help parents, guardians and local residents in their efforts to counter harmful information, MEXT has been supporting the nationwide monitoring surveys $ ^{*} $ of television programs that have been