美国国家公共电台 NPR--Texas teens say their calls for no more violence are ignored as mass shootings rise

Texas teens say their calls for no more violence are ignored as mass shootings rise

Transcript¹

Groups of teens in Texas are organizing and speaking out against gun violence despite the many challenges they face toward achieving their legislative² and political goals.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Columbus, Ohio, is not allowed to regulate guns, so it tried to regulate people, imposing³ curfews on some late-night businesses. In Texas, some high school students are taking their own approach to gun violence. Here's Caroline Love with KERA in Dallas.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: How big do we want them to be?

CAROLINE LOVE, BYLINE⁴: Hillcrest High School's Students Demand Action Club meets on Tuesdays in a dimly lit science classroom. The kids' plastic and mesh⁵ backpacks are strewn about. They can't carry regular ones. Dallas schools started requiring clear backpacks last year. The students here wear a lanyard with their school ID at all times.

BRYNN BEECHAM: It's to help the safety around the school.

LOVE: That's Brynn Beecham. The 16-year-old founded the Students Demand Action chapter at her school after it had three lockdowns. It advocates against gun violence. The campus also had threats on social media recently. The threats turned out to be false, but Beecham says she's still scared.

BRYNN: I'm nervous walking in every day 'cause I don't know if I'm going to be able to walk out.

LOVE: Fifteen-year-old Ryley Collins from Plano, Texas, says she worries about gun violence at her school, too.

RYLEY COLLINS: It's ingrained in you to be scared of it 'cause it's so common.

LOVE: Collins' school also has a Students Demand Action chapter. The club organized a walkout to protest gun violence in April. It was a windy day, but hundreds of students still attended.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENTS: (Chanting) End all violence. No more violence. End all violence.

LOVE: School shootings have gone up. David Riedman from the K-12 Shooting Database says this year is on track to have about 400. He says most gun violence at schools is an escalation⁶ of a fight, not mass shootings, and the shooter has a habit of carrying a gun to school.

DAVID RIEDMAN: They never plan to shoot someone that day, but something escalated⁷ into a shooting. And often, bystander students are struck.

LOVE: School shooters tend to be young, says Dr. Sandra McKay. She teaches pediatric health at the McGovern Medical School in Houston and says the average age is 16.

SANDRA MCKAY: That teen mind is impulsive⁸, so we want to reduce their ability to be impulsive with something that is a dangerous weapon to them.

LOVE: McKay says most underage shooters get their guns from their homes, which is why she advocates for safe firearm storage, like in a gun safe. Safe storage is a good practice, says gun rights activist⁹ Chris McNutt with Texas Gun Rights. But his organization opposes laws that make it mandatory¹⁰.

CHRIS MCNUTT: The responsibility should be on the gun owner that they properly secure their firearm in a way that makes sense to them.

LOVE: McNutt says he also doesn't support raising the age to buy firearms in Texas from 18 to 21. He says if 18-year-olds can vote and join the military, they should be able to buy guns. A University of Texas poll found that most Texans do support raising the legal age to buy firearms. But the lack of action on gun violence reforms from lawmakers is frustrating¹¹ for Hillcrest students like Neve Healy, yet she remains¹² hopeful.

NEVE HEALY: Even though we're just a little group of students, I think we have the power to change a lot more than we realize.

LOVE: Until that happens, the students in this group say they will continue to plan walkouts and sit-ins to raise awareness¹³ for their cause.

For NPR News, I'm Caroline Love in Dallas.

1 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。

2 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

3 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

4 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。

5 mesh   

n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络

参考例句：

• Their characters just don't mesh.他们的性格就是合不来。
• This is the net having half inch mesh.这是有半英寸网眼的网。

6 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

7 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

8 impulsive   

adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的

参考例句：

• She is impulsive in her actions.她的行为常出于冲动。
• He was neither an impulsive nor an emotional man,but a very honest and sincere one.他不是个一冲动就鲁莽行事的人，也不多愁善感.他为人十分正直、诚恳。

9 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

10 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

11 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 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。