VOA慢速英语--抗议导致美国官员重新考虑使用校警

An increasing number of American cities are rethinking the presence of law enforcement officers in their schools.

City officials are considering ways to answer the concerns of thousands of people who have protested the death of George Floyd. In some areas, young protesters have been demanding the removal of officers from schools.

George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota after a white police officer pressed his knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Floyd was handcuffed and lying on the ground. He can be heard saying "I can't breathe" in videos of his arrest and death.

Minneapolis suspended its school resource officer program last week. School district officials in nearby Saint Paul, Minnesota, and in Denver, Colorado, are considering doing the same. Protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia have made the end of its school resource officer program one of their demands.

School resource officers are law enforcement officers who are responsible for keeping schools and their students safe. Along with enforcing the law, the resource officers are expected to act as unofficial counselors³ and provide guidance on issues such as bullying⁴ and drunk driving.

Portland Public Schools, the largest school district in Oregon, announced last week it was cutting ties with the Portland Police Bureau. Portland Mayor Ted¹ Wheeler said he would also discontinue using school resource officers in two of the city's smaller districts.

"Leaders must listen and respond to community," Wheeler said. We must disrupt the patterns of racism⁵ and injustice⁶."

Many in Portland have voiced support for the decision to remove the officers. But others raised immediate⁷ concerns about student safety in the event of a school shooting or other emergency.

Mo Canady is head of The National Association of School Resource Officers. He described any decision to remove the officers from schools as a "knee-jerk reaction." In other words, the decision happened very quickly and without much thought.

Canady added that the actions by a few school districts could cause many other districts to make the same decision. He said such moves cause harm to students around the country.

Canady called Floyd's death "atrocious" and the actions of the Minneapolis police "evil." But he said that when school resource officer programs are "done right," they can be good examples of community-based policing.

But critics of the programs say the officers' presence can also lead to the criminalization of students, especially students of color. In 2015, a school resource officer in South Carolina was caught on video forcing a female student on the ground and pulling her across a classroom. The student had refused to surrender her phone to the officer.

There are an estimated 25,000 school resource officers nationwide, Canady said.

Across the United States, 43 percent of public schools had an armed law enforcement officer present at least once a week in the 2015-2016 school year. That was the last year the National Center for Education Statistics studied the issue.

I'm Ashley Thompson.

Words in This Story

handcuffed - v. to put a set of two metal rings that are joined together and locked around a person's wrists

district - n. an area or section of a country, city, or town

counselor² - n. a person who provides advice as a job

bullying - v. someone who frightens, hurts, or threatens smaller or weaker people

disrupt - v. to interrupt the normal progress or activity of (something)

pattern - n. the regular and repeated way in which something happens or is done

mayor - n. an official who is elected to be the head of the government of a city or town

atrocious - n. very evil or cruel

respond - v. to say or write something as an answer to a question or request

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 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。

3 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

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 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

6 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。