2007年VOA标准英语-US Schools Provide Alternative for Recovering T

By Sean Maroney
Washington
12 March 2007
 
watch Teen Drinking report

A typical high school can be full of temptation for teens struggling to recover from drug or alcohol addiction¹.  VOA's Sean Maroney takes a look at some special schools that help teenagers stay "clean" (drug-free) and sober.

 
Carolyn Burke
Carolyn Burke is excited about her senior prom. "This is my dress!" She is in her last year of high school, but graduation is not nearly as important as the date she keeps on her cell phone.

"I've been sober three years, one month and 18 days" she declares. 

Carolyn's parents describe her as a happy child who grew up too fast.  By the time she was 12 (years old).

"I started smoking pot every single night.  I vandalized, I stole, I had sex.  I did all the stupid stuff."

Her parents watched helplessly as Carolyn seemed to spiral out of control. Her mother, Sandy says, "The pain and the anxiety about what is she doing?  Where is she going with her life?  How is this going to turn out?  How can I fix this?  How can we change this?  It was horrendous²."

Carolyn tried rehabilitation³ twice, but her parents ended up sending her here -- to Sobriety High, in the northern state of Minnesota. 

Program director Judi Hanson says the school is one of eight in the state designed to be a safe haven⁴ for recovering teen addicts⁵. "Going back to a mainstream⁶ school for a high-school student who is in recovery is like going back to a bar [for an alcoholic]."

Acting⁷ U.S. Surgeon General Kenneth Moritsugu says Carolyn is not alone with her story. "As early as ages eight and nine, our children are confronted with decisions about alcohol on a regular basis in many settings -- including at home and at school."

He says alcohol is the number-one drug used by students, and the main contributor in the deaths for people under age 21. "Each year, more than 5,000 deaths of people under age 21 are linked to underage drinking.  Think of that!  Entire college campuses wiped clean of the entire student body.  Every year."

Schools like Sobriety High use group therapy and an honor system to help students stay drug-free. One sobriety student commented, "I don't get offered drugs here.  It's just a better experience."

But some critics say it is hard to keep addicts, especially teens, accountable without drug tests.

 
Paul Grehl
Drug counselor⁸, Paul Grehl, is one such critic. He says, "What addicts never forget is they learned how to be deceitful.  They know how it works, and it's pretty easy to fall back into when they need to do it."

Carolyn continues to take life -- and her problems -- one day at a time, just as she has for the last three years, one month and 18 days.

1 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

2 horrendous   

adj.可怕的，令人惊惧的

参考例句：

• He described it as the most horrendous experience of his life.他形容这是自己一生中最可怕的经历。
• The mining industry in China has a horrendous safety record.中国的煤矿工业具有令人不安的安全记录。

3 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

4 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

5 addicts   

有…瘾的人( addict的名词复数 )； 入迷的人

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• There is counseling to help Internet addicts?even online. 有咨询机构帮助网络沉迷者。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

6 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

7 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

8 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。