{"id":1351,"date":"2025-03-27T10:42:13","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T01:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eikei.dev.db-force.net\/english\/?post_type=project&p=1351"},"modified":"2025-07-14T14:45:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T05:45:43","slug":"coming-soon","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/eikei.ac.jp\/english\/project\/1351\/","title":{"rendered":"A Distribution System for Identifying Social Issues by High School Journalists Who Experience School Non-Attendance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The number of children not attending school has surged in recent years. While various personal and social factors are cited as causes, how much progress has actually been made in terms of understanding and support? One essential step is truly engaging with how these children feel and live their daily lives\u2014and whether there is a space that accepts them for who they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Desire to Change Society That Began in Middle School<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

NARUGE\u2019s project is driven by a clear vision: \u201cTo build a society where children feel that their lives matter.\u201d
She herself began refusing school in the third grade and faced daily self-denial, often labeled a \u201cproblem child.\u201d But meeting a teacher in middle school changed her outlook. \u201cFor the first time, someone treated me as a person\u2014not through the lens of truancy. It made me question why I had been denied so many things so unfairly and why my options were so limited. That\u2019s when I began wanting to change society,\u201d she recalls.
As a high school student, she gave talks based on her experiences at local governments and NPOs, created dialogue spaces between teachers and students, and organized events for parents of truant children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Lecture activities<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Recognizing the Observational Skills and Thoughtfulness of Non-Attending Youth<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt university, I started a project that provided writing opportunities to youth not attending school, encouraging them to write articles focused on issue identification,\u201d says NARUGE.
\u201cWhen these kids gather, they often talk about things like, \u2018What is school really?\u2019 or \u2018What is society like?\u2019 They tend to notice what others overlook and keep thinking deeply about social issues. I wanted to give them a space to express those thoughts freely as journalists.\u201d
The articles focus on two main themes: (1) Current social issues, (2) The field of education.
Currently, a second-year student attending a correspondence high school who previously stopped attending school is participating in the project and working on article development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flexibility in Action Depending on the Target Issue<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The project offers structured pathways. In the case of the current high school student participant, the plan follows the \u201cIssue Discovery Article Course\u201d over a three-month period.
Once completed, the articles will be published in newsletters through affiliated organizations or distributed via a new alternative media platform.
While the project is still in its prototyping stage, it has begun to evolve. Initially, the goal was to leverage the issue-identification capabilities of non-attending students and offer them a platform. However, she found that many of the youths involved were seeking something more immediate\u2014solutions to deeply personal concerns.
\u201cFor example, one student said they just wanted their mom to stop crying because of their truancy. Another said they wished they had even one person to support them. These kids want help with what\u2019s directly in front of them. And thinking through how to address that can lead to new ideas.\u201d
In response, NARUGE is exploring ways to share these perspectives creatively, such as through improv storytelling or film discussion events. \u201cKids who don\u2019t go to school have such unique viewpoints. I want to build a system that connects people and transforms values through small events like these.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Everything Learned at University Has Been Useful<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

NARUGE credits her learning at Eikei University of Hiroshima for the tools she\u2019s using today.
\u201cFrameworks like the Value Proposition Canvas\u2014which helps identify gaps between services and user needs\u2014and the Double Diamond model\u2014used for divergent and convergent thinking in problem-solving\u2014were all taught in our PBL<\/a> courses.\u201d
She chose Eikei University of Hiroshima precisely because, as a high school student organizing events, she felt that short-term change was possible, but sustained impact was elusive. \u201cI wanted to learn practical and academic approaches to making change last.\u201d
Through lectures, she gained the theory and systems needed to dig deeper into social problems. \u201cThat perspective allowed me to see my ideas more objectively. I now see this project as entering the \u2018convergence\u2019 stage after a long period of ideation and growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Scenes from University Activities<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Gaining Trust Through People and Opportunities<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

In 2024, NARUGE\u2019s project won the HIROSHIMA Next Venture Excellence Award from the 31st Hiroshima Venture Grant program\u2014one of 29 awardees in the student category. She received a grant of 300,000 yen.
Since then, she has connected with like-minded individuals, and new initiatives have begun. One is a proposed online platform called the \u201cPlace to Belong Portal\u201d (tentative name)\u2014a website to visualize and share safe spaces for school non-attenders nationwide. NARUGE was appointed as project leader.
\u201cI\u2019ve been fortunate to encounter incredible opportunities and people. These achievements are the result of all the work I\u2019ve done through this project. What I\u2019m doing may seem diverse, but my vision remains unchanged. I want to keep exploring ways to gather and deliver voices\u2014and continue taking action to change society.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"This<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

HIROSHIMA Next Venture Excellence Award<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

(March 2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u3000<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1353,"template":"","project_category":[79],"project_tag":[83,93],"class_list":["post-1351","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","project_category-studentproject","project_tag-projectbasedlearningpbl","project_tag-studentproject"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eikei.ac.jp\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/1351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eikei.ac.jp\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eikei.ac.jp\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/project"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/eikei.ac.jp\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/1351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2076,"href":"https:\/\/eikei.ac.jp\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/1351\/revisions\/2076"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eikei.ac.jp\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eikei.ac.jp\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"project_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eikei.ac.jp\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_category?post=1351"},{"taxonomy":"project_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eikei.ac.jp\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_tag?post=1351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}