在线英语听力室

VOA慢速英语2018--保护儿童远离科技上瘾

时间:2018-02-19 23:59:58

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。

(单词翻译)

Changes Urged to Protect Children from Tech Addiction1

Former technology industry leaders are calling for urgent measures to protect children from smartphone addiction.

Among those urging major changes is Tristan Harris – a former high-level employee at Google. He just launched a group that will seek to gather and publish evidence of how digital devices and social media can harm children and young people.

Leaders of the organization – called the Center for Humane2 Technology – used to work for major technology companies. They hope to use this knowledge and experience to lead a “cultural awakening” among the public about the dangers of technology.

While at Google, Harris says he felt the company had great power over millions of people who used its technology. He spoke3 about his experiences during a conference last week in Washington.

“Never before in history have 50 mostly men - mostly 20 to 35 year-old-engineers - in 50 miles of exactly one place on earth, shaped what a billion people - really two billion - think, feel and do, and who they relate to.”

He said Google was successful in building products that created certain thoughts in users’ heads. “Whatever you're thinking is first, and then you choose out of the thoughts you have, because thought precedes action,” he said.

Harris says he believes companies like Google, Facebook and Apple have a “moral responsibility” not to create technology products that can “hijack how the mind works.”

The conference where Harris spoke was sponsored by Common Sense Media, a child and family activist4 group. The organization says research suggests that half of all teenagers feel addicted5 to their mobile devices, while about 60 percent of parents believe their kids are addicted.

The group also cites a recent study of eighth-graders that found heavy users of technology were 56 percent more likely to say they are unhappy, while 27 percent more likely to be depressed6. Even Facebook cited research last year suggesting that social media use can harm mental health when used in certain ways.

And last month, two major investors7 in Apple raised fears about rising smartphone addiction among young users. In an open letter, the investors urged the iPhone maker8 to offer more choices and tools to help children fight addiction to devices. Such action “is both good business and the right thing to do,” the letter said.

In response, Apple said the iPhone and other devices running on its mobile software already offer controls for parents to limit or block material considered harmful.

But Tristan Harris says Apple and other technology companies need to go much further - and actually change their current engineering and design methods - to be more kid friendly.

“I see this as, this is game over, unless we change course. Really, genuinely, I 100 percent believe that.”

Groups to provide resources for learning

Common Sense Media is partnering with the Center for Humane Technology on a new campaign aimed at getting companies to make such changes. The effort includes a major public information campaign that will target schools, where research has also shown that mobile devices can hurt the learning process.

James Steyer is the founder9 of Common Sense. He says more than half of schools in the U.S. are already members of the organization. The group provides teachers and parents with learning materials intended to help students develop critical thinking skills and balance their digital lives.

Steyer says Common Sense will be providing even more resources to educators beginning in the new school year next fall.

“And you know what’s going to be in there? Stuff about addiction, how to prevent digital addiction. Stuff about digital manipulation. I actually think if you tell kids how they're being manipulated, it will change their relationship with technology.”

Most education experts believe technology will remain in schools far into the future. Steyer says the big question is, how will this ever-changing technology be used in schools going forward.

“And are we going to educate the teachers, the students and their parents about the thoughtful, ethical10 use of those platforms and the software? That's the whole challenge ahead of us.”

The Waldorf School

Some U.S. schools, however, have tried to limit or remove technology to improve learning. One of them is in Silicon11 Valley, the center of the American tech industry.

The Waldorf School of the Peninsula does not use any computers or digital technology in its education programs up to the seventh grade. The school’s website says while Waldorf teachers recognize the role technology can play in the classroom, it must wait until the student reaches the right developmental age.

“We observe that a child’s natural, instinctive12, creative and curious way of relating to the world may be repressed when technology is introduced into learning environments at an early age,” the website says. When students reach high school, they are allowed to use computers and digital tools in the classroom.

There are many independent Waldorf Schools throughout North America. The schools center heavily on hands-on learning and aim to teach skills in “creativity and innovative13 thinking.” They also place importance on students developing “social and emotional intelligence” as part of the educational experience.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

addiction – n. strong and sometimes harmful need to regularly have or do something

precede – v. to happen or exist before something else

genuinely – adv. actual, real, true

critical – adj. using or involving careful judgment14 about the good and bad parts of something

manipulation – n. the act of controlling someone or something in a clever and usually unfair or selfish way

ethical – adj. following accepted rules of behavior: morally right and good

challenge – n. a difficult task or problem

instinctive – adj. behaving or reacting naturally and without thinking

curious – adj. having a desire to learn or know more about something

innovative – adj. using new methods or ideas


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 addiction JyEzS     
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 humane Uymy0     
adj.人道的,富有同情心的
参考例句:
  • Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗?
  • Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。
3 spoke XryyC     
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。
4 activist gyAzO     
n.活动分子,积极分子
参考例句:
  • He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
  • He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。
5 addicted dzizmY     
adj.沉溺于....的,对...上瘾的
参考例句:
  • He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
  • She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。
6 depressed xu8zp9     
adj.沮丧的,抑郁的,不景气的,萧条的
参考例句:
  • When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
  • His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。
7 investors dffc64354445b947454450e472276b99     
n.投资者,出资者( investor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
  • a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会
8 maker DALxN     
n.制造者,制造商
参考例句:
  • He is a trouble maker,You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼,你不要跟他在一起。
  • A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。
9 Founder wigxF     
n.创始者,缔造者
参考例句:
  • He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
  • According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说,罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。
10 ethical diIz4     
adj.伦理的,道德的,合乎道德的
参考例句:
  • It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
  • It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。
11 silicon dykwJ     
n.硅(旧名矽)
参考例句:
  • This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
  • A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。
12 instinctive c6jxT     
adj.(出于)本能的;直觉的;(出于)天性的
参考例句:
  • He tried to conceal his instinctive revulsion at the idea.他试图饰盖自己对这一想法本能的厌恶。
  • Animals have an instinctive fear of fire.动物本能地怕火。
13 innovative D6Vxq     
adj.革新的,新颖的,富有革新精神的
参考例句:
  • Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
  • He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。
14 judgment e3xxC     
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见
参考例句:
  • The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
  • He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。