VOA慢速英语2012 Health Report - Starting Younger to Prevent Dating Abuse

 

Health Report - Starting Younger to Prevent Dating Abuse

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Programs that teach young people how to avoid abusive relationships are generally for high school or college age. But new programs are being created for younger students because they too experience abusive dating relationships.

Earlier this year the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released a study done in the United States. Fifteen percent of seventh graders in the study said they had been the victim of physical violence in a relationship with the opposite sex. Seventh graders are about twelve years old.

Kelly Miller¹, a lawyer in the state of Idaho, directs a program called Start Strong Idaho. It started three and a half years ago. The goal is to help eleven- to fourteen-year-olds learn the skills to have healthy and safe relationships. For example, she teaches them to "wait a second and breathe" before they make a decision.

Ms. Miller says a big problem for young people is that television programs, video games and movies often show violent relationships. Mobile phones and the Internet can also create problems.

KELLY MILLER: "Now young people have access to one another 24/7, which I think really can complicate² lives of young people that don't have the skills or boundaries or that ability to say, 'No I can't text you at two in the morning' or 'No, I really need to get to sleep by eleven because I've got a test tomorrow morning."

Kelly Miller says young people need adults to teach them what it means to have a healthy relationship. Several American cities have received money from the CDC, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for programs to prevent abusive relationships.

A private organization called Men Can Stop Rape³ has groups for boys between the ages of twelve and fourteen. These Men of Strength, or MOST, groups teach boys that being a strong man is not always about physical strength.

They learn that if they respect themselves and others, they will be men of strength. They are also taught that they can be allies⁴ of girls and women. A CDC study showed that boys in these groups are more likely help a young woman who is being mistreated by another boy.

In Idaho, the state does a Youth Risk Behavior Survey each year. Ms. Miller says the number of high school students who say they have been physically⁵ hurt by a dating partner has dropped by six percentage points in the past six years.

KELLY MILLER: "So we're hopeful if we continue this work in really promoting healthy teen relationships and teaching those skills, that we can continue to impact the Youth Risk Behavior Survey question."

Next week, we look at some of the skills needed to build healthy relationships.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, available online at www.voanews.cn. Read, listen and learn English with our programs and activities. You can also find links to the Start Strong Idaho and Men Can Stop Rape websites. I'm Karen Leggett.

1 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

2 complicate   

vt.使复杂化，使混乱，使难懂

参考例句：

• There is no need to complicate matters.没有必要使问题复杂化。
• These events will greatly complicate the situation.这些事件将使局势变得极其复杂。

3 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

4 allies   

联盟国，同盟者； 同盟国，同盟者( ally的名词复数 )； 支持者； 盟军

参考例句：

• The allies would fear that they were pawns in a superpower condominium. 这个联盟担心他们会成为超级大国共管的牺牲品。
• A number of the United States' allies had urged him not to take a hasty decision. 美国的一些盟友已力劝他不要急于作决定。

5 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。