美国国家公共电台 NPR--Encore: When teens threaten violence, a community responds with compassion

Encore: When teens threaten violence, a community responds with compassion¹

Transcript²

A growing number of schools have adopted an evidence-based approach to preventing campus violence. (Story first aired on All Things Considered on June 1, 2022.)

MENTAL HEALTH

When teens threaten violence, a community responds with compassion

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, had many parents and officials asking, once again, how do we prevent the next one? While lawmakers debate gun policy, many school districts are pursuing other strategies to steer³ young people away from violence. NPR's Rhitu Chatterjee tells us about one case in Oregon that offers hope for interventions⁴ elsewhere.

RHITU CHATTERJEE, BYLINE⁵: Back in 2011, psychologist John Van Dreal got a phone call from Oregon's North Salem High School. It was an assistant principal telling him that a student had written an angry, violent Facebook post.

JOHN VAN DREAL: There were a number of statements about hitting people with pipes, breaking knees, bashing heads with pipes, looking for help in doing so.

CHATERJEE: And then there was this.

VAN DREAL: [Expletive] North Salem High School. Seriously, it's asking for a [expletive] shooting or something.

CHATERJEE: Van Dreal's job is to keep schools safe. He directs the safety and risk management program for Salem-Keizer Public Schools. He says he knew of this kid.

VAN DREAL: Mishka was known to be pretty aggressive and combative⁶. There was enough history here to suggest that if we didn't intervene very quickly that we would have a pretty bad situation on our hands at North High.

CHATERJEE: By the time Van Dreal arrived at the school that day, police officers had already pulled Mishka out of class.

MISHKA: I'm in handcuffs.

CHATERJEE: Surrounded by police.

MISHKA: I got searched several times.

CHATERJEE: And they asked the 17-year-old lots of questions.

MISHKA: The police started asking him questions like, hey, so what's going on? What's happening? They asked me, like, was I actually intending to do something? And I was like, nope, just blowing off steam.

CHATERJEE: Mishka was angry - really angry. That's because he says two of his friends had been jumped by some jocks.

MISHKA: My buddies⁷ got beat up - quite literally⁸, they got beat up. My buddies got suspended for that.

CHATERJEE: He thought this was unfair. He says his friends didn't start the fight. And in his Facebook post, he was trying to avenge⁹ them. Van Dreal knew that to calm Mishka down, he had to see the world through his eyes.

VAN DREAL: He's the one justifying¹⁰ the violence, and I have to get behind that and see why.

CHATERJEE: He learned that Mishka's struggles started way back in middle school. One day, Mishka says, a kid tried to pick a fight.

MISHKA: As I was turning around and saying, dude, I don't want to fight, he takes a swing and hits me directly in my eye, where everything just went black for a moment, like, and I got mad, and it turned into a physical fight. That was probably the first time I actually punched a person.

CHATERJEE: His right eye was severely¹¹ damaged. He says the next two years, he was in and out of surgery.

MISHKA: I started failing majority of my classes. I wasn't able to follow along. I was - I literally had to stand up, like, a foot away from the - what's on the board because everything was just a haze¹². Like, I couldn't see anything.

CHATERJEE: Eventually, he says, he lost all sight in that eye. And the attacks on him, they continued. In seventh grade, Mishka says, a group of boys jumped him. He says he told the school which students did it, and they were suspended.

MISHKA: But when they came back, they got even more of their buddies. And on the way home, I literally just got bluntly attacked and just - I was literally just laying there in the dirt, in the mud, and I was getting kicked like I was a soccer ball.

CHATERJEE: He says he ended up with an abdominal¹³ injury and more surgery.

MISHKA: That is actually, like, the point when I was, like, I'm done with everything and everyone. And I'm like, none of you could protect me, so I don't care about what you guys see. I don't care about your rules, whether you're wearing a police uniform, military or whether you're the president or God himself. And that's where I became, like, a loose cannon¹⁴.

CHATERJEE: Mishka spent his high school years getting in one fight after another.

VAN DREAL: He saw himself as a victim who was going to pay some people back so that this injustice¹⁵ didn't continue. And that's that righteous indignation that can drive these kinds of assaults.

CHATERJEE: Then came senior year and that Facebook post.

VAN DREAL: [Expletive] North Salem High School. Seriously, it's asking for...

CHATERJEE: It sounded like a serious threat, but Van Dreal and his team realized that Mishka had no intentions of shooting anyone. Still, he was angry and volatile¹⁶. Van Dreal listened to Mishka when he explained why.

VAN DREAL: Teachers weren't reaching out to kids who needed the help. There weren't the connections. There was the pecking order and the injustice.

CHATERJEE: They decided¹⁷ to give Mishka another chance and moved him to a smaller school, Roberts High, where teachers gave him the attention and help he wanted and where he found his first real mentor¹⁸, Stanley Roberts, a behavioral analyst¹⁹ at the school. Roberts says he remembers Mishka in those early days.

STANLEY ROBERTS: A kid shy in hiding, didn't say much. He just walked through the hall with his head down, didn't want to be noticed - maybe hurting. And it's like, well, hey, let's talk.

CHATERJEE: Roberts invited him to stop by his office any time, and Mishka did. At first, he was hesitant.

ROBERTS: Started out a young boy, a young man trying to prove himself. And I think it was just more of a, you know - where do I fit in? - always having to fight and just being angry at, you know, at the world. It's not fair. And I just listened.

CHATERJEE: Then, after a while, Roberts started pushing back. Did Mishka want to be that guy who's angry and fighting all the time?

ROBERTS: Is this what you want? No. Well, what do you want? Well, I can't just walk away from it. I'm like, but as you get older, you can. You don't have to stay in that.

CHATERJEE: Roberts helped Mishka find other ways to solve his problems. It was like having his own personal coach.

MISHKA: Somebody to be there for, like, if I do need to turn - like, hey, what do I do now? - knowing that there is going to be somebody there saying, hey, this is what you do now.

CHATERJEE: Mishka graduated from high school on time. Today he has a full-time²⁰ job and enjoys baking when he isn't working. He's far from the angry kid he used to be. John Van Dreal has worked with over a thousand at-risk kids, collaborating²¹ with families, police, schools, mental health professionals. He says this is how you move kids away from violence - through safe environments, connections, role models.

VAN DREAL: Moving kids from despair to hope - that's the bumper²² sticker for what we do.

CHATERJEE: Is that all it takes? It sounds, like, almost too simplistic to be true.

VAN DREAL: Well, it is not. It really works.

CHATERJEE: After the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., in 2018, Congress designated money to set up more programs like this in schools around the country. Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF ED SHEERAN SONG, "THE JOKER AND THE QUEEN")

1 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

4 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 combative   

adj.好战的；好斗的

参考例句：

• Mr. Obama has recently adopted a more combative tone.奥巴马总统近来采取了一种更有战斗性的语调。
• She believes that women are at least as combative as are.她相信女性至少和男性一样好斗。

7 buddies   

n.密友( buddy的名词复数 )；同伴；弟兄；（用于称呼男子，常带怒气）家伙v.（如密友、战友、伙伴、弟兄般）交往( buddy的第三人称单数 )；做朋友；亲近（…）；伴护艾滋病人

参考例句：

• We became great buddies. 我们成了非常好的朋友。 来自辞典例句
• The two of them have become great buddies. 他们俩成了要好的朋友。 来自辞典例句

8 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

9 avenge   

v.为...复仇，为...报仇

参考例句：

• He swore to avenge himself on the mafia.他发誓说要向黑手党报仇。
• He will avenge the people on their oppressor.他将为人民向压迫者报仇。

10 justifying   

证明…有理( justify的现在分词 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护）

参考例句：

• He admitted it without justifying it. 他不加辩解地承认这个想法。
• The fellow-travellers'service usually consisted of justifying all the tergiversations of Soviet intenal and foreign policy. 同路人的服务通常包括对苏联国内外政策中一切互相矛盾之处进行辩护。

11 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

12 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

13 abdominal   

adj.腹（部）的，下腹的；n.腹肌

参考例句：

• The abdominal aorta is normally smaller than the thoracic aorta.腹主动脉一般比胸主动脉小。
• Abdominal tissues sometimes adhere after an operation.手术之后腹部有时会出现粘连。

14 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

15 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

16 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

17 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

18 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

19 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

20 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

21 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

22 bumper   

n.(汽车上的)保险杠；adj.特大的，丰盛的

参考例句：

• The painting represents the scene of a bumper harvest.这幅画描绘了丰收的景象。
• This year we have a bumper harvest in grain.今年我们谷物丰收。