美国国家公共电台 NPR For Troubled Kids, Some Schools Take Time Out For Group Therapy

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Resilience, grit¹, emotional intelligence - they've been hot topics in parenting and education circles for years. And research backs up the idea that students need social and emotional skills to succeed. Schools around the country are trying to figure out how best to teach those skills. For our series How To Raise A Human, NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin looks at a resilience curriculum designed to prepare students for the tough middle school years.

SELENA SIMMONS-DUFFIN, BYLINE²: It's a warm evening in the Cresthaven Elementary School library.

Hello.

Gathered here are six students from Silver Spring, Md. They're in fifth grade and have just completed the Resilience Builder Program. They're here to share what they've learned and get certificates. Their parents are here to cheer them on. Most are immigrants from all over - West Africa, Latin America.

MARY ALVORD: Hi, I think we're going to start.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Psychologist Mary Alvord stands up front for a little presentation. She's been developing this program for decades. The room's quiet. The moms and dads pay close attention.

ALVORD: What is resilience? Resilience is the ability to adapt, not just to hardship but everyday challenges.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Parents already know some of this. Their kids have been bringing home their binders³, writing in their success journals for 12 weeks now. And they know that their kids were selected for this program because they were having a tough time in school with things like bullying⁴ or self-control. In the program, the students learn lots of tools to respond to these challenges.

ALVORD: And the main goal for the Resilience Builder Program is to prepare them for middle school. It's a big transition, big change.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: And, Alvord tells me, in middle school, the pressures really kick in.

ALVORD: Substance abuse becomes an issue. Sexuality becomes an issue. Social media has really complicated things now. And, you know, we worry about depression with teens.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: In the library, she ticks through some of the tools she's taught the students. For example, she tells them to imagine a remote control they can use to change their negative thoughts. She shows a drawing. The buttons say things like happy place and things thankful for.

ALVORD: So you can switch channels in your head. Instead of that math test was really hard, if we think, I got through it, and I'm proud of myself...

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: They also worked on social skills. Up at the front, one student, D., demonstrates the personal space bubble. We're only using first initials to protect the students' privacy.

D.: You put your hands out, and then you make - and you spin around in a circle. And when someone is, like, near you, and you tell them to, like, get away a little bit because I need my personal space.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Another student, M., said he wants to keep working on his conversation skills.

M.: To not cut into conversations and to let people finish their sentences.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: The thinking is when students learn to respect personal space and listen well, it can bolster⁵ their sense of empathy and their self-control, which can make their friendships stronger. Then when a challenging situation comes up, they have friends and self-regulation skills to get them through. One by one, the students come up to receive their certificates.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: I'd like to present a certificate of achievement for all your hard work.

(APPLAUSE)

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Research on programs like this shows clear and lasting⁶ benefits. An analysis published last year in the journal Child Development reviewed dozens of programs involving more than 97,000 students. It found that participants were 11 percent more likely to graduate from college and less likely to have mental health problems or be arrested than students who never went through those programs. In Australia, Canada and the U.K., social and emotional learning is already being implemented⁷ on a large scale. Here in the U.S., it's been slower to catch on. With all the mandates⁸ that schools have to keep up with, social-emotional learning gets moved to the back burner. But Cresthaven Elementary was hungry for it.

MARINA SKLIAS: This is amazing because it's very interactive⁹. It's very different. It's hands-on.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Marina Sklias is the Cresthaven's school counselor¹⁰. She selected the students who took part, students who might be at risk for developing more serious psychological or emotional issues down the road. She says especially in a high-poverty school like this one, there's only so much she can do as a school counselor.

SKLIAS: Oftentimes, I refer students for counseling and parents request counseling. But due to financial situations or transportation issues, parents can't always follow through.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Sklias would love to offer this school-wide. Dr. Mary Alvord would love that, too. She's starting a nonprofit to scale up the Resilience Builder Program. Now the funding mostly comes from her private practice. She's also getting ready to publish a study that measures how well it works. And she's excited by some early results that show the program's helping¹¹ kids academically.

ALVORD: Because it all goes together. If you're not struggling with relationships or teasing and bullying, you have more headspace to give to study, and you're also just more positive.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: All right. I'll see you tomorrow - OK?

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Back at the Cresthaven library, as the fruit and cheese gets packed up, parents seem really pleased. One mom tells me her daughter used to be nervous all the time, and now she's noticed a real difference. Her daughter, B., agrees.

B.: They help me solve problems with my close friends and not get as mad at my friends as I used to.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: And she can take her new set of problem-solving tools with her to middle school next year and beyond.

Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR News.

1 grit   

n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
• I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。

2 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。

3 binders   

n.（司机行话）刹车器；（书籍的）装订机( binder的名词复数 )；（购买不动产时包括预付订金在内的）保证书；割捆机；活页封面

参考例句：

• Propellant binders based on these materials have excellent mechanical properties and good performance. 用这些材料制成的推进粘结剂的工作性能很好，而机械性能则更为突出。 来自辞典例句
• The and inferior binders fabrication process has become much more important. 黏合剂制作工艺优劣显得更加重要。 来自互联网

4 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

6 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

7 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

8 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

9 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

10 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。

11 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。