|
|
VictorRios_2015P-_幫助被教育体系忽视的孩子们_
|
| For over a decade, |
十多年来, |
| I have studied young people that have been pushed out of school, so called " dropouts ." |
我研究被学校赶出来的年轻人, 所谓的「中辍生」。 |
|
dropouts:n.退学学生;脱落;信号失落;(dropout的复数)
|
| As they end up failed by the education system, they're on the streets where they're vulnerable to violence , police harassment , police brutality and incarceration . |
他们被教育体系放弃的结果就是流落街头, 在那里他们容易蒙受暴力对待、 警察骚扰、 警察暴行 和监禁。 |
|
vulnerable:adj.易受攻击的,易受…的攻击;易受伤害的;有弱点的; violence:n.暴力;侵犯;激烈;歪曲; harassment:n.骚扰;烦恼; brutality:n.无情;残忍;暴行(需用复数形式); incarceration:n.监禁;下狱;禁闭;
|
| I follow these young people for years at a time, across institutional settings, to try to understand what some of us call the "school-to-prison pipeline." |
我追踪这些年轻人多年的时间, 来回于各机构间, 试图了解我们当中某些人所谓的「学校到监狱管道」。 |
|
institutional:adj.制度的;
|
| When you look at a picture like this, of young people who are in my study ... |
当你看到这样的照片, 我研究的年轻人... |
| you might see trouble. |
你大概看得到问题。 |
| I mean one of the boys has a bottle of liquor in his hand, he's 14 years old and it's a school day . |
我的意思是其中一个男孩手上拿着一瓶酒, 他才十四岁, 而且那天是上学日。 |
|
liquor:n.液;白酒;汤;[药学]溶液; school day:教学日;上课日;
|
| Other people, when they see this picture, might see gangs , thugs , delinquents — criminals. |
其他人看到这张照片时, 看到的可能是幫派、 恶棍、问题少年、 罪犯。 |
|
gangs:n.帮派(gang的复数);v.成帮结伙;合伙行动(gang的三单形式); thugs:暴徒; delinquents:n.流氓;少年罪犯;失职者;(delinquent的复数)
|
| But I see it different. |
但我看到的不是这样。 |
| I see these young people through a perspective that looks at the assets that they bring to the education system. |
从我的角度来看,我认为这些年轻人 能为教育系统带来宝贵的资产。 |
|
perspective:n.观点;远景;透视图;adj.透视的; assets:n.资产;宝贵的人材;(一项)财物;资产;(asset的名词复数)
|
| So will you join me in changing the way we label young people from " at-risk " to "at-promise?" |
你们愿不愿意跟我一起改变我们标记年轻人的方式, 从「有危险」改为「有希望」呢？ |
|
label:n.标签;标记;谓;唱片公司;v.贴标签于;用标签标明; at-risk:adj.处于危险中的;
|
| (Applause) |
（掌声） |
| How do I know that these young people have the potential and the promise to change? |
我怎么知道这些年轻人 有改变的潜力和希望呢？ |
|
potential:n.潜能;可能性;[电]电势;adj.潜在的;可能的;势的;
|
| I know this because I am one of them. |
我知道,因为我曾是其中的一员。 |
| You see, I grew up in dire poverty in the inner city , he abandoned me before I was even born. |
事情是这样子的,我在都市中的贫民区长大, 他在我出生前就弃我而去。 |
|
dire:adj.可怕的;悲惨的;极端的; poverty:n.贫困;困难;缺少;低劣; inner city:n.(居民拥挤,住屋破旧的)市中心平民区;adj.市中心的; abandoned:adj.被抛弃的放纵的;v.抛弃;丢弃,离开;放弃;(abandon的过去分词和过去式)
|
| We were on welfare , sometimes homeless, many times hungry. |
我们领救济金, 有时无家可归, 多次处在饥饿中。 |
|
welfare:n.福祉;(政府给予的)福利;
|
| By the time I was 15 years old, |
到我十五岁时, |
| I had been incarcerated in juvy three times for three felonies . |
已犯下三次重罪,被判三次监禁了。 |
|
incarcerated:v.监禁;关押;禁闭;(incarcerate的过去式和过去分词) felonies:n.重罪;
|
| My best friend had already been killed. |
我最好的朋友已被杀死。 |
| And soon after, while I'm standing next to my uncle, he gets shot. |
不久后, 我目睹了身旁的舅舅 遭受枪击。 |
| And as I'm waiting for the ambulance to arrive for over an hour ... |
我等救护车等了 超过一个多小时... |
|
ambulance:n.救护车;
|
| he bleeds to death on the street. |
以致他在街上失血过多而死。 |
|
bleeds:v.[印刷]出血(bleed的第三人称单数); n.出血版;
|
| I had lost faith and hope in the world, and I had given up on the system because the system had failed me. |
我对世界失去了信心和希望, 我放弃了体制,因体制辜负了我。 |
|
faith:n.信心;信任;宗教信仰;
|
| I had nothing to offer and no one had anything to offer me. |
我没能给别人什么, 也没有人能给我些什么。 |
| I was fatalistic . |
我认命了。 |
|
fatalistic:adj.宿命论的;
|
| I didn't even think I could make it to my 18th birthday. |
甚至自认无法活过十八岁。 |
| The reason I'm here today is because a teacher that cared reached out and managed to tap into my soul. |
我今天能够在这里 是因为有个老师伸出关心的手, 触动了我的心灵。 |
| This teacher, |
这位老师, |
| Ms. Russ ... |
柔丝老师... |
| she was the kind of teacher that was always in your business. |
她是那种什么事都爱管的老师。 |
| (Laughter) |
（笑声） |
| She was the kind of teacher that was like, " Victor , I'm here for you whenever you're ready." |
她这样对我说: 「维克多,当你准备好了,愿意的时候,我就在这里。」 |
|
Victor:n.胜利者;获胜者;adj.胜利(者)的;
|
| (Laughter) |
（笑声） |
| I wasn't ready. |
当时我还没准备好。 |
| But she understood one basic principle about young people like me. |
但她瞭解像我这类年轻人的一个基本原则: |
|
principle:n.原理,原则;主义,道义;本质,本义;根源,源泉;
|
| We're like oysters . |
我们就像牡蛎。 |
|
oysters:n.牡蛎:生蚝:
|
| We're only going to open up when we're ready, and if you're not there when we're ready, we're going to clam back up. |
我们只在准备好的时候张开, 若那个当下你不在我们身旁, 我们就又关起来了。 |
|
clam:n.蛤;蛤蜊;蚌;v.挖蛤;保持沉默;嘴紧;
|
| Ms. Russ was there for me. |
当时柔丝老师在我身边。 |
| She was culturally relevant , she respected my community , my people, my family. |
她理解我的文化背景, 她尊重我的社区、族群和家人。 |
|
culturally:adv.从文化角度,文化意义上;在人文学方面; relevant:adj.相关的;切题的;中肯的;有重大关系的;有意义的,目的明确的; community:n.社区;[生态]群落;共同体;团体;
|
| I told her a story about my Uncle Ruben. |
我告诉她有关我舅舅鲁本的事。 |
| He would take me to work with him because I was broke, and he knew I needed some money. |
他带我一起工作,因为我一块钱都没有, 他知道我需要钱。 |
| He collected glass bottles for a living. |
他以回收玻璃瓶维生。 |
| Four in the morning on a school day, we'd throw the glass bottles in the back of his van, and the bottles would break. |
上学日的早上四点钟, 我们把玻璃瓶往他的货车后面扔, 瓶子迸裂, |
| And my hands and arms would start to bleed and my tennis shoes and pants would get all bloody . |
我的手和手臂开始流血, 我的球鞋和长裤沾上血迹。 |
|
bloody:adj.血腥的;血淋淋的;v.血染;
|
| And I was terrified and in pain, and I would stop working. |
我吓到了,觉得很痛,于是停下了工作。 |
| And my uncle, he would look me in the eyes and he would say to me, "Mijo, estamos buscando vida." |
舅舅直视我的眼睛对我说: 「亲爱的孩子, （西文:） |
| '"We're searching for a better life, we're trying to make something out of nothing ." |
我们在追求更美好的生活, 要在一无所有中,创造些什么出来。」 |
|
make something out of nothing:无中生有;
|
| Ms. Russ listened to my story, welcomed it into the classroom and said, "Victor, this is your power. |
柔丝老师倾听我的故事, 在课堂上分享并告诉我: 「维克多,这是你的力量, |
| This is your potential. |
是你的潜力。 |
| Your family, your culture, your community have taught you a hard-work ethic and you will use it to empower yourself in the academic world so you can come back and empower your community." |
你的家人、文化和社区已经教了你勤奋工作的伦理, 用此伦理来激励自己,完成学業, 然后就有能力回馈和激励你的社区。」 |
|
ethic:n.伦理;道德规范;adj.伦理的;道德的(等于ethical); empower:vt.授权,允许;使能够; academic:adj.学术的;理论的;学院的;n.大学生,大学教师;学者;
|
| With Ms. Russ's help, |
藉由柔丝老师的幫助, |
| I ended up returning to school. |
我重回到学校, |
| I even finished my credits on time and graduated with my class. |
甚至还如期修毕了学分, 和同班同学一起,自高中毕業。 |
| (Applause) |
（掌声） |
| But Ms. Russ said to me right before graduation, "Victor, I'm so proud of you. |
柔丝老师在毕業前对我说: 「维克多,我以你为傲。 |
| I knew you could do it. |
我就知道你做得到。 |
| Now it's time to go to college." |
接下来要上大学啰。」 |
| (Laughter) |
（笑声） |
| College, me? |
我上大学？ |
| Man, what is this teacher smoking thinking I'm going to college? |
这个老师认为我会上大学？开什么玩笑？ |
| I applied with the mentors and support she provided , got a letter of acceptance , and one of the paragraphs read, "You've been admitted under probationary status ." |
我在她的支持与指导下申请学校, 我收到一封入学许可信, 其中有这么一段话: 「允许你来试读。」（注:probation 是试用也是缓刑） |
|
applied:adj.应用的;实用的;v.应用;使用;申请,请求;(apply的过去分词和过去式) mentors:n.导师,教练(mentor复数); provided:conj.假如; v.提供; (provide的过去分词和过去式) acceptance:n.验收;接受;认可;承认; probationary:adj.试用的;缓刑的;实习中的; status:n.地位;状态;情形;重要身份;
|
| I said, "Probation? I'm already on probation, that don't matter?" |
我说:「啥,缓刑？我早已在缓刑期中, 有什么差别？」 |
| (Laughter) |
（笑声） |
| It was academic probation, not criminal probation. |
信上指的是学業上的试读,不是刑事上的缓刑。 |
| But what do teachers like Ms. Russ do to succeed with young people like the ones I study? |
像柔丝老师这样的师长采取了哪些行动, |
| I propose three strategies . |
我提出三个策略。 |
|
propose:v.建议;提议;求婚;打算; strategies:n.策略;行动计划;部署;战略;(strategy的复数)
|
| The first: let's get rid of our deficit perspective in education. |
第一: 让我们摆脱负面、缺失的教育观点。 |
|
deficit:n.赤字;逆差;亏损;不足额;
|
| '"These people come from a culture of violence, a culture of poverty. |
「这些人来自暴力文化, 贫穷文化。 |
| These people are at-risk; these people are truant . |
这些人危险;他们逃学懒惰。 |
|
truant:n.旷课者;懒惰的人;adj.旷课的;偷懒的;vi.逃学;偷懒,逃避责任;
|
| These people are empty containers for us to fill with knowledge. |
这些人脑袋空空,得由我们灌输知识。 |
| They have the problems, we have the solutions." |
他们问题多多, 有待我们去解决。」 |
| Number two. |
第二: |
| Let's value the stories that young people bring to the schoolhouse . |
让我们珍视年轻人带到学校的故事。 |
|
schoolhouse:n.校舍;
|
| Their stories of overcoming insurmountable odds are so powerful. |
他们克服万难的故事是如此地强大有力。 |
|
overcoming:v.克服;解决;战胜;(overcome的现在分词) insurmountable:adj.不能克服的;不能超越的;难以对付的; odds:n.几率;胜算;不平等;差别;
|
| And I know you know some of these stories. |
我确信你们知道这些故事。 |
| These very same stories and experiences already have grit , character and resilience in them. |
这类的故事和经验 蕴含着胆量毅力、品格和韧性。 |
|
grit:v.研磨;在…上铺砂砾;咬紧牙关;摩擦作声;n.粗砂,粗砂石;勇气;决心; resilience:n.恢复力;弹力;顺应力;
|
| So let's help young people refine those stories. |
让我们幫助年轻人淬炼这些故事; |
|
refine:v.精炼;改进;改善;提纯;
|
| Let's help them be proud of who they are, because our education system welcomes their families, their cultures, their communities and the skill set they've learned to survive. |
让他们以自身为傲, 因为我们的教育体系欢迎他们的家人、文化、 社区, 以及他们学会的生存技能。 |
|
communities:n.社区;社会;团体;共有(community的复数)
|
| And of course the third strategy being the most important: resources . |
第三,最重要的是 资源。 |
|
strategy:n.策略;行动计划;部署;战略; resources:n.[计][环境]资源; v.向…提供资金(resource的第三人称单数);
|
| We have to provide adequate resources to young people. |
我们必须提供年轻人充足的资源。 |
|
adequate:adj.充足的;适当的;胜任的;
|
| Grit alone isn't going to cut it. |
光靠胆量毅力是不够的。 |
| You can sit there and tell me all you want, "Hey man, pick yourself up by the bootstraps ." |
你可以坐在那里爱怎么讲就怎么讲: 「你可以提着靴带把自己拉上来。」（注:靠自己的努力奋发向上。） |
|
bootstraps:n.[计]引导程序,辅助程序;解靴带;
|
| But if I was born without any straps on my boots — |
但如果我生来就没有靴带... |
| (Laughter) |
（笑声） |
| How am I supposed to pick myself up? |
是要如何拉自己一把啊？ |
|
supposed:adj.误信的;所谓的;v.认为;假设;设想;(suppose的过去分词和过去式)
|