【英语语言学习】阻止校园的枪支暴力

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: This Is For The Record.

We're going to talk about gun violence. And we could start this story as we usually do - with a lot of tape reminding you of all the recent school shootings, including one just Thursday night at Tennessee State University. We could play news clips reporting how many people were killed, what inspired the shooter. We could hear local leaders condemning¹ the acts of violence. But this is a story that is so much a part of our culture right now and our politics, we don't need to remind you how we got here. Instead, we're going to introduce you to a couple of people who've dedicated² much of their professional lives to preventing this kind of violence. For the Record this week, the work to keep kids safe.

JONI GREENBERG: I'm Joni Greenberg, and I am the Project Aware coordinator³ for West Virginia and Berkeley County Schools. And I live in Martinsburg, W.Va.

MARTIN: Before that, she spent more than 20 years as a high school guidance counselor⁴.

GREENBERG: I loved working with the students, trying to help them navigate⁵ life and how to survive a breakup. I loved that.

MARTIN: But the shooting at Columbine in 1999 changed everything. And after that, she was looking more carefully into her students' lives and motivations. Most of the time, the kids who came to her were just going through the tough stuff of adolescence⁶. There were exceptions, though.

Have you encountered a student in your career that did give you pause, someone who you thought was potentially a threat?

GREENBERG: I think I've had two.

MARTIN: How so? What kind of signs do you see?

GREENBERG: The social isolation⁷, maybe not fitting in. They've probably felt like they've been bullied⁸. Some of them haven't had real good home lives. One of them, I think, was undiagnosed with mental illness and the one had kind of an obsession⁹ with guns. He was an avid¹⁰ hunter 'cause that's real popular in our area. The one I think I was probably most concerned, there were behaviors at school that were alarming.

MARTIN: Like what?

GREENBERG: At times, we might have to clear a classroom because the child wouldn't leave the classroom when he was having a bad day. This child was angry.

MARTIN: Every guidance counselor has a story like this. When Joni Greenberg finally got a chance to sit down with that student, she found out he had just been really mad about one particular homework assignment, and eventually he found his way out of that anger. But what are teachers and administrators¹¹ supposed to do if the situation escalates¹² or if the nagging¹³ worries about one student just don't go away?

This is what Joni Greenberg focuses on now. She left her job as a high school guidance counselor, and now she manages a $500,000 grant that was given to her county in West Virginia. The money funds programs designed to increase awareness¹⁴ of mental health issues. Part of that means training people to recognize when someone could be a potential threat to themselves or others. It's work psychologist Gene¹⁵ Deisinger has been doing around the country since the early 1990s.

GENE DEISINGER: We're asking people to pay attention to those things that seem out of the norm or disproportionate to the situation, like person becoming more isolated¹⁶ and withdrawn¹⁷, they're expressing ideas about the use of violence.

MARTIN: Shortly after the massacre¹⁸ at Virginia Tech in 2007, Gene Deisinger was brought in as a security consultant¹⁹.

DEISINGER: There were people who were so frightened and so hypersensitive to the risk of another incident that they were seeing a lot of risk where from an objective standpoint, it wasn't there. And we had to work through that together as a community.

On the other end of the spectrum²⁰, there are also those people who were dealing²¹ with their trauma²² through the use of denial and a belief of, well, because we've experienced the worst, nothing else bad can happen. And this focus on safety and security and mental illness is too much being made too late and it's not relevant anymore.

MARTIN: Gene Deisinger says it was relevant because just a few years after the Virginia Tech massacre, another person on campus had a plan of their own.

DEISINGER: There was a case involving an individual that did have significant mental health concerns in particular, developed a plan of action, gathering²³ weapons to do that. When he came to the attention of university staff who implemented²⁴ the threat management process, and that was one of the first interventions²⁶ and thankfully had a significant effect in de-escalating the situation.

MARTIN: Intervention²⁵ is key, he says. So much of this training is something we hear all the time now, right? If you see something, say something.

DEISINGER: We encourage people, if they had an interaction or observed some things and they were pondering to themselves, quote, "this may be nothing but," and we use that phrase because we've heard it so often. And if it was, in fact, nothing, we'd all be happy and relieved.

MARTIN: I asked Joni Greenberg if that is especially hard with teenagers.

I imagine some kids - you have to combat this idea that it's tattle telling in some way, right?

GREENBERG: Yes, believe it or not, you still do. They think their friend is never going to talk to them again if they tell somebody that they're feeling suicidal. And, you know, you try to tell them, would you rather they be mad at you or would you rather them commit suicide? But it is hard. They want to do the right thing by their friend, and they feel like by keeping their confidence, that's doing the right thing.

MARTIN: Greenberg says she's doing what she can to spot mental health issues in her schools, but gun safety is also important, she says. And that's a tough issue to wade²⁷ into.

GREENBERG: People don't always like to be told what to do with their guns. You just try to educate the students.

MARTIN: There are efforts to prevent an act of gun violence in schools, but there are also exercises designed to prepare teachers if it does happen.

GREENBERG: Last year at Hedgesville High School, we brought in - I think it was the state police. And they would put us in a cafeteria and then they would go to the opposite end of the school and shoot three different guns. They would move closer, and at one point, they put us in classrooms with the door closed. And the closer they got, the more upsetting it was. It just made it very real, I guess, to think about what those children went through when that was happening and what it would be like if it was happening in our school.

MARTIN: The police officers in this exercise were using blanks. Even so...

GREENBERG: When you hear that gun in your building, it's just, like, you can't not face it.

MARTIN: Gene Deisinger told me that he thinks the jury is out on whether these kinds of simulations really do any good. And if they aren't carried out properly, he says they can be traumatizing to those taking part. With all these kinds of prevention efforts, there is a line you don't want to cross. The role playing, the simulations, the trainings, it's all about giving people a sense of control about their own safety. But all that awareness-raising can have consequences.

Do people ever accuse you of cultivating a culture of fear?

DEISINGER: Not often, but it certainly happened. But through our work, we've seen organizations for many years take proactive steps to identify, assess and manage concerns out of a desire to prevent, where possible. So I don't think there's any need for us to focus on a fear-mongering affect.

MARTIN: I asked Joni Greenberg the same thing about fear. She says you don't want to scare children, but the consequences of inaction are not acceptable.

GREENBERG: You always have to try. I mean, look at Sandy Hook. That was devastating²⁸. So yeah, you never quit trying. And you never quit inventing ways to make your school safer.

MARTIN: Joni Greenberg, former guidance counselor at Hedgesville High School in West Virginia and Gene Deisinger, managing partner of Sigma Threat Management Associates.

1 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

3 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

4 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

5 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

6 adolescence   

n.青春期，青少年

参考例句：

• Adolescence is the process of going from childhood to maturity.青春期是从少年到成年的过渡期。
• The film is about the trials and tribulations of adolescence.这部电影讲述了青春期的麻烦和苦恼。

7 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

8 bullied   

adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My son is being bullied at school. 我儿子在学校里受欺负。
• The boy bullied the small girl into giving him all her money. 那男孩威逼那个小女孩把所有的钱都给他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

10 avid   

adj.热心的；贪婪的；渴望的；劲头十足的

参考例句：

• He is rich,but he is still avid of more money.他很富有,但他还想贪图更多的钱。
• She was avid for praise from her coach.那女孩渴望得到教练的称赞。

11 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

12 escalates   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的第三人称单数 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• As the challenge escalates, the need for teamwork elevates. 面临的挑战越大，越需要团队协同合作。 来自互联网
• I cannot understand why a minor disagreement escalates into a fist-fight. 我真不明白为什么一点意见不合就变成了拳头相见。 来自互联网

13 nagging   

adj.唠叨的，挑剔的；使人不得安宁的v.不断地挑剔或批评（某人）( nag的现在分词 )；不断地烦扰或伤害（某人）；无休止地抱怨；不断指责

参考例句：

• Stop nagging—I'll do it as soon as I can. 别唠叨了—我会尽快做的。
• I've got a nagging pain in my lower back. 我后背下方老是疼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

15 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

16 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

17 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

18 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

19 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

20 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

21 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

22 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

23 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

24 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

25 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

26 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

27 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

28 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。