2023年02月01日 VOA慢速英语：美国学校面临管教学生的压力

 

Educators say children's behavior reached crisis levels after the pandemic shutdowns. Now, many schools are facing pressure from critics to rethink the ways they discipline students.
教育工作者说，在大流行关闭后，儿童的行为达到了危机水平。现在，许多学校都面临来自批评者的压力，要求他们重新考虑他们管教学生的方式。
 
In recent years, some schools have adopted policies intended to reduce suspensions and expulsions. Some experts say suspensions and expulsions hurt students' ability to learn and largely affect minority students.
近年来，一些学校采取了旨在减少停学和开除的政策。一些专家表示，停学和开除会损害学生的学习能力，并在很大程度上影响少数民族学生。
 
But more students have been misbehaving. Some school systems have faced questions from teachers, parents and lawmakers about whether a softer approach can effectively deal with problems that disrupt classrooms.
但是更多的学生行为不端。一些学校系统面临着来自教师、家长和立法者的问题，即更温和的方法是否可以有效地处理扰乱课堂的问题。
 
The latest example came recently in Newport News, Virginia, when a 6-year-old shot his teacher. Teachers there complained at a school board meeting that the school system had become too easy on students. Students who physically attacked school workers were often permitted to stay in the classroom, they said.
最新的例子最近发生在弗吉尼亚州的纽波特纽斯，当时一名 6 岁的孩子开枪打死了他的老师。那里的老师在学校董事会会议上抱怨学校系统对学生过于宽容。他们说，对学校工作人员进行人身攻击的学生通常被允许留在教室里。
 
The local school board said it would take "the necessary steps to restore public confidence" in the school system.
当地学校董事会表示，将采取“必要措施来恢复公众对学校系统的信心”。
 
Misbehavior has been on the rise since students returned to classrooms following COVID-19 lockdowns. The National Center for Education Statistics questioned school leaders on the issue last summer. It found that 56 percent of school leaders said the pandemic led to increased classroom disruptions from student misbehavior. And 48 percent said it led to more acts of disrespect toward teachers and staff.
自从学生在 COVID-19 封锁后返回教室以来，不当行为一直在增加。去年夏天，国家教育统计中心就此问题向学校领导提出了质疑。调查发现，56% 的学校领导表示，大流行导致学生的不当行为导致课堂中断增加。48% 的人表示，这导致了更多对教师和员工的不尊重行为。
 
Rachel Perera studies education at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. She said new criticism of approaches to discipline could slow changes in policy.
雷切尔佩雷拉在华盛顿特区的布鲁金斯学会学习教育她说，对纪律方法的新批评可能会减缓政策的变化。
 
"There's a lot of pressure on schools right now," she said. "I worry that that will translate to schools falling back on old practices that are not effective in terms of supporting students in the way they need."
“现在学校压力很大，”她说。“我担心这将转化为学校退回到旧的做法，这些做法在以学生需要的方式支持学生方面无效。”
 
Policy changes are already happening. In Gwinnett County, Georgia, the school board approved the use of a "restorative practices" program in August. The program was meant to center on conflict resolution, repairing harm and rebuilding relationships in the classroom. But the district paused the program in December, with plans to restart it in the 2023-2024 school year. It did so after concerns were raised over incidents in school, including a video of a student attacking a teacher at a high school.
政策变化已经在发生。在佐治亚州格威内特县，学校董事会于 8 月批准了一项“恢复性做法”计划的使用。该计划旨在以解决冲突、修复伤害和重建课堂关系为中心。但学区在 12 月暂停了该计划，并计划在 2023-2024 学年重新启动。它是在对学校事件提出担忧之后这样做的，其中包括一段学生袭击高中老师的视频。
 
As of 2020, 21 states and the District of Columbia had passed legislation supporting the use of restorative practices in schools. That information comes from the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality.
截至 2020 年，21 个州和哥伦比亚特区已通过立法支持在学校使用恢复性做法。该信息来自乔治敦贫困与不平等法律中心。
 
Carrying out the practice correctly takes time, resources, and community support, said Rebecca Epstein. She is the center's executive director.
Rebecca Epstein 说，正确地进行这种做法需要时间、资源和社区支持。她是该中心的执行主任。
 
"Change is hard," Epstein said. "It can't be up to individual teachers alone to shift the culture… It really takes a whole school cultural shift."
“改变很难，”爱泼斯坦说。“改变文化不能仅靠个别教师……这真的需要整个学校的文化转变。”
 
Using restorative justice does not mean a school cannot remove a disruptive student from the classroom, said Thalia González. She is a professor at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco. But unlike other forms of discipline, restorative practices aim to understand the causes of a student's behavior. The approach is less centered on punishment.
塔利亚·冈萨雷斯 (Thalia González) 说，使用恢复性司法并不意味着学校不能将捣乱学生赶出课堂。她是旧金山加州大学法学院的教授。但与其他形式的纪律不同，恢复性做法旨在了解学生行为的原因。该方法不太以惩罚为中心。
 
Traditional discipline has widened inequities. Black children are often suspended or expelled at rates far higher than white children. Research has found that these differences in discipline can have lifelong effects for children, including worsened educational results and higher rates of imprisonment.
传统纪律扩大了不平等。黑人儿童被停学或开除的比率通常远高于白人儿童。研究发现，纪律方面的这些差异会对儿童产生终生影响，包括教育成果恶化和入狱率上升。
 
The Virginia city of Newport News has its own history with restorative justice.
弗吉尼亚州纽波特纽斯市在恢复性司法方面有着自己的历史。
 
At a school board meeting in 2017, district officials discussed efforts to reduce school suspensions while using restorative practices. At the same time, Tracy Pope was the school system's restorative practices specialist. She said at the meeting that such practices did not do away with anything already in place. She described the practices as "another way to look at how we do discipline."
在 2017 年的一次学校董事会会议上，地区官员讨论了在使用恢复性做法的同时减少学校停课的努力。同时，Tracy Pope 是学校系统的恢复性实践专家。她在会上说，这种做法并没有取消任何已经存在的东西。她将这些做法描述为“另一种看待我们如何纪律的方式”。
 
Even before the shooting of a first-grade teacher, many educators were unhappy with the way the school system dealt with student discipline. In a spring 2022 opinion study of teachers and other employees, only 60 percent said school leaders were addressing poor behavior among students.
甚至在一名一年级教师被枪杀之前，许多教育工作者就对学校系统处理学生纪律的方式感到不满。在 2022 年春季对教师和其他员工的意见研究中，只有 60% 的人表示学校领导正在解决学生的不良行为问题。