VOA慢速英语--巴尔的摩学校致力于帮助学生治疗创伤

Baltimore Schools Working to Help Students Deal with Trauma¹

Tinazsha Johnson has experienced sad events and a lot of pressure in her young life.

Two years ago, when Tinazsha joined a sixth grade class at a new school, she was mourning the death of her mother. Her father had been in and out of jail. Tinazsha witnessed violence near her home in Baltimore, Maryland. She also felt pressure to help her grandparents raise her younger siblings³.

Now, daily life is still difficult. But after spending two years at a new “trauma-sensitive” school, she is learning how to control the effects of pressure and sorrow. Together, these feelings had made her brain feel like a racing⁴ engine.

Tinazsha said she used to always be fighting and arguing with people.

“But this last year, I’ve been doing a lot better because I’ve been learning how to control my anger in a lot of ways and think positive thoughts to get me through,” she noted⁵.

The teenager spoke⁶ with The Associated Press at her school, New Song Community Learning Center in West Baltimore. It is open around the year, unlike most schools in the United States.

Tinazsha says the school has become her sanctuary⁷ from streets where the names of young gun violence victims are painted on the walls. Recently, Baltimore’s school system held a ceremony to recognize the students who were gunned down this school year.

In Baltimore and other U.S. cities with high crime, school officials are realizing that long-lasting trauma in childhood affects brain development. It can create the risk of physical and behavioral health problems in the future, when the children become adults.

School officials have reacted by setting up the trauma-sensitive schools, both in big cities such as Chicago and San Francisco, and states such as Iowa and Wisconsin.

Baltimore’s problems made national news last month when U.S. President Donald Trump⁸ criticized the area where Tinazhsa Johnson lives. Her neighborhood is part of a congressional district served by Elijah Cummings.

Trump tweeted that Cummings’ majority-black district is a “disgusting, rat and rodent⁹ infested¹⁰ mess” where “no human being would want” to live.

Trump’s opponents criticized his comments. They blamed the president for not doing more to help Baltimore.

The “trauma-sensitive” schools are made possible in part with money from the federal government. The schools can help only some of those who need it.

With the help of $2.3 million in federal money in 2016, officials have turned 13 public schools in West Baltimore into trauma-sensitive schools. Students there have access to full-time¹¹ mental health workers, mindfulness and breathing exercises and “peace corners,” where they can go and calm down. School officials have reached out into the community to get to know the people raising the children.

The federal financing of trauma-sensitive schools ends this year. Officials are using the remaining money to teach everyone, from teachers and administrators¹² to food workers, how to recognize and help traumatized students.

Experts from Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland are also providing services.

The school district will have a full-time social worker in all schools for the upcoming school year. The city also has created “calming spaces” and “wholeness” places for students in schools that are not official trauma-sensitive centers.

Patrick Sharkey is a sociologist¹³ at Princeton University in New Jersey¹⁴. He said many children go to school carrying the weight of violence with them, and that harms their ability to get a good night’s sleep and think clearly.

Programs like those in Baltimore can help, he said. He added it is important to recognize the most effective way to improve school performance is to deal with the problem of community violence.

I’m Bryan Lynn,

and I'm Anne Ball.

Words in This Story

sibling² – n. a brother or a sister

trauma – n. a very difficult or unpleasant experience that causes someone to have mental or emotional problems usually for a long time

positive – adj. good or useful

sanctuary – n. a place where someone or something is protected or given shelter

rodent – n. a small animal (such as a mouse, rat, squirrel, or beaver) that has sharp front teeth

infested – v. to be in or over (a place, an animal, etc.) in large numbers

access – n. a way of getting near, at, or to something or someone

1 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

2 sibling   

n.同胞手足(指兄、弟、姐或妹)

参考例句：

• Many of us hate living in the shadows of a more successful sibling.我们很多人都讨厌活在更为成功的手足的阴影下。
• Sibling ravalry has been common in this family.这个家里，兄弟姊妹之间的矛盾很平常。

3 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

4 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

8 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

9 rodent   

n.啮齿动物；adj.啮齿目的

参考例句：

• When there is a full moon,this nocturnal rodent is careful to stay in its burrow.月圆之夜，这种夜间活动的啮齿类动物会小心地呆在地洞里不出来。
• This small rodent can scoop out a long,narrow tunnel in a very short time.这种小啮齿动物能在很短的时间里挖出一条又长又窄的地道来。

10 infested   

adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于

参考例句：

• The kitchen was infested with ants. 厨房里到处是蚂蚁。
• The apartments were infested with rats and roaches. 公寓里面到处都是老鼠和蟑螂。

11 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

12 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

13 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

14 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。