VOA慢速英语2010年-Education Report - In Treating Athlete

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

One job of an athletic¹ trainer is to treat injured athletes. But does it make a difference if the trainer is male or female?

Sometimes, yes , if an injury or condition is a "male problem" or a "female problem." Then athletes say they are more likely to want treatment by someone of their own sex.

But what about a problem that could affect either sex, like a dislocated shoulder? Researchers at North Carolina State University asked male football players at two American colleges.

The study found that those players would still probably choose a male trainer -- unless the injury made them feel depressed². Then they would most likely choose a female trainer.

The researchers offer two possible explanations. They say football players might be seen as "weak" if they talk about their depression with a male trainer. Also, over half the players described female trainers with words like "caring," "nurturing³" and "affectionate."

A West Virginia basketball player is helped by an athletic trainer, right, and team manager after she injured her knee during a game in 2006

The researchers say this shows that "gender⁴ stereotypes⁵" have influenced the opinions of the players about women. They say the concern is that players might see the training room as not the place even for well-qualified women.

The study, led by Heidi Grappendorf, is in the Journal of Athletic Training.

Trainers are an important part of an athlete's life. But an organization based in California is working with coaches to help influence boys to show more respect toward girls and women.

Feroz Moideen is director of the Coaching Boys into Men program of the Family Violence Prevention Fund. He says the nonprofit organization works with police, judges, teachers and coaches. He says the group used a million-and-a-half-dollar donation from the Nike Foundation to expand the program to cricket players in India.

FEROZ MOIDEEN: "We tried to use the power of cricket coaches in that instance to reach young boys and, once again, to educate them about healthy relationships and to model healthy and respectful behavior toward women and girls."

Written materials are also being provided to other countries through UNICEF, the United Nations children's and educational agency.

Brian O'Connor of the Family Violence Prevention Fund says young men need guidelines in how to treat young women -- in person or online.

BRIAN O'CONNOR: "Talking about unwanted or excessive text messaging, or breaking into someone's Facebook account. We're calling this digital dating abuse, another form of abuse that has been really heightened now through technology."

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report. You can find our reports online at voaspecialenglish.com and on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English. I'm Jim Tedder
 

1 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

2 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

3 nurturing   

养育( nurture的现在分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• These delicate plants need careful nurturing. 这些幼嫩的植物需要精心培育。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants. 这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

4 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

5 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》