在线英语听力室

教师持枪以防止校园枪击事件吗?

时间:2018-02-28 14:53:17

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)

Can Arming Teachers Prevent School Shootings?

President Donald Trump1 has called for arming teachers as a way to stop school shootings.

His comments came after the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida on February 14. A 19-year-old gunman killed 17 students and teachers at Stoneman Douglas High School. The shooter used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle that was bought legally.

Since the shooting, Trump has also suggested he may support some new measures to limit guns. One measure would ban anyone under 21 years old from buying a firearm. Another would aim to make it harder for mentally ill people to buy a gun.

Trump took to Twitter to explain his reasoning for wanting to arm teachers. “History shows that a school shooting lasts, on average, 3 minutes. It takes police & first responders approximately 5 to 8 minutes to get to the site of crime. Highly trained, gun adept2, teachers/coaches would solve the problem instantly, before police arrive. GREAT DETERRENT3!”

Last week, Trump met at the White House with survivors4 of the Parkland shooting – as well as state and local officials from Florida – to discuss school safety.

“I think we need hardened sites. We need to let people know, you come into our schools, you’re going to be dead. And it’s going to be fast.”

Teachers criticize the proposal

Trump’s proposal to train some teachers to be armed in the classroom was criticized by organizations representing teachers. The National Education Association, or NEA, represents 3 million educators working at U.S. public schools and colleges. Becky Pringle is vice5 president of the NEA. She is also an eighth grade science teacher.

“I just cringed when I heard the president's proposal, as did so many educators across this country. I tried to imagine having the responsibility of teaching these children the wonders of science and being held responsible for making life and death decisions with a loaded firearm.”

The American Federation6 of Teachers – which says it represents 1.7 million teachers – also criticized the plan. It said the clear message from its membership – even those who own guns - was that educators “don’t want to be armed, they want to teach.”

The superintendent7 of Broward County Public Schools – the district where the shooting happened - said he is “totally against arming teachers.” Robert Runcie said educators already have a difficult job and giving them weapons would just make it harder.

Florida’s Republican Governor Rick Scott has also said he opposes the idea of giving guns to teachers. But he did call for increased security at schools, including a plan to put a trained police officer in every Florida school by the start of the fall 2018 school year.

Pringle says she understands the concerns of officials and parents who want to make schools more secure. But she says the NEA supports “common sense gun reform” to help prevent mass shootings. She says Trump and other elected officials who favor armed teachers have not spent enough time with educators and students.

“So this is what we're doing. And this is what we wish the president would do - and others in positions of power would do, and that is listen to our students. That's what we're doing. We're listening to our students and they are rising up and they're not backing down and they're being very clear about what will make them feel safer in schools.”

Pringle was talking about student activists8, in Florida and other states, who have responded to the shooting by holding protests and demanding stronger gun laws.

One of those students is Sofia Hidalgo – a 15-year-old student at Albert Einstein High School in the state of Maryland. She joined a demonstration9 last week in front of the White House. She says the young activists realize that the same kind of tragic10 shooting could also happen at their schools.

“I think that once we realized that this could happen to us, as well, that it was time for us to make our voices heard to ensure that it never happens again, because this is a serious tragedy.”

Hidalgo says her school has armed police officers and this makes her feel safer. The school also carries out drills to practice how to react to violence and other serious situations. But she does not think arming teachers would help solve the problem.

“By arming the teachers you’re just distributing even more guns. And this is not the solution that we need. We need to be restricting the sales of guns, not increasing them. And by arming the teachers, you're trying to fight fire with fire and that’s not a solution.”

Some schools already have armed teachers

Several U.S. states already allow teachers to be armed in schools. One of them is Texas. Steve Clugston is the Superintendent of the Callisburg Independent School District, in Callisburg, Texas.

He says one reason the district decided11 to allow armed teachers was because the area does not have its own police department. This is the case in dozens of school districts in small communities across Texas. If a shooting happens in these areas, Clugston says, police officers likely could not reach the school quickly enough.

Armed teachers must first have a license12 to carry a handgun in Texas. Educators in the Callisburg district receive training from experts in shooting and gun safety. They also complete drills in the schools on how to react to a variety of live shooter situations.

As he sees it, Clugston said school violence is no different than a situation in which a family is being attacked inside their home.

“Somebody is trying to kick in that door and threatening to kill everybody in that room. At that particular moment, there's not many people that don't wish they had a gun to protect themselves at that particular time.”

Clugston says he believes arming teachers works as a deterrent to violence by sending a clear message to would-be attackers. His district places large signs in front of all its school buildings warning that armed teachers and employees are on the property.

“We're going to use whatever force is necessary to protect our people. When you look at a lot of these active shooters, they tend to target that soft target. We're going to let them know we're not a soft target.”

Clugston says the reaction to the district’s program from parents and community members has been “100 percent positive.”

Identify troubled students

In the Parkland, Florida attack, suspected shooter Nikolas Cruz was a former student known by school officials to have a troubled past. The school safety debate has also centered on ways to identify students who could be at risk for future violent behavior.

One group seeking to make a difference is the not-for-profit Educator’s School Safety Network. It offers safety training programs aimed at preventing school violence. Amanda Klinger is director of operations for the organization. She says the group also provides educators with tools to identify, assess and manage certain students who may pose a threat.

“This is something educators are asking for. Educators aren't asking to be armed with guns. But they are asking to be armed with education and training and the empowerment to be able to do some of these things to keep kids safe in their schools.”

She added that teachers are often the best people to identify students that could become threats. But many lack the needed skills and tools to effectively do this.

“We have a fact-based investigative approach, where you have a multidisciplinary threat assessment13 team. And they're looking at who should we be concerned about? How concerned should we be? And then what are we going to do about it?”

Klinger says her group attempts to arm teachers with the tools to recognize signs of trouble early on, before students begin showing violent behavior. This way, teachers and administrators14 can decide on the best intervention15 to prevent future tragedies.

I’m Dorothy Gundy. And I'm Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

adept – adj. good at doing something

deterrent – n. something that makes someone decide not to do something

cringe – v. feel disgust or embarrassment16, sometimes by also showing the feeling by a movement of the face or body

ensure – v. make certain that something is done or happens

drill – n. an exercise done to practice certain skills or procedures

practice – v. to do something again and again in order to become better at it

distribute – v. give or deliver to people

assess – v. make a judgment17 about (something)?

empowerment – n. the process of gaining freedom and power to do what you want or to control what happens

multidisciplinary – adj. involving two or more subject areas


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 trump LU1zK     
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。
2 adept EJIyO     
adj.老练的,精通的
参考例句:
  • When it comes to photography,I'm not an adept.要说照相,我不是内行。
  • He was highly adept at avoiding trouble.他十分善于避开麻烦。
3 deterrent OmJzY     
n.阻碍物,制止物;adj.威慑的,遏制的
参考例句:
  • Large fines act as a deterrent to motorists.高额罚款是对开车的人的制约。
  • I put a net over my strawberries as a deterrent to the birds.我在草莓上罩了网,免得鸟歇上去。
4 survivors 02ddbdca4c6dba0b46d9d823ed2b4b62     
幸存者,残存者,生还者( survivor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
  • survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者
5 vice NU0zQ     
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
参考例句:
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
6 federation htCzMS     
n.同盟,联邦,联合,联盟,联合会
参考例句:
  • It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
  • Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。
7 superintendent vsTwV     
n.监督人,主管,总监;(英国)警务长
参考例句:
  • He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
  • He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。
8 activists 90fd83cc3f53a40df93866d9c91bcca4     
n.(政治活动的)积极分子,活动家( activist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
  • Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 demonstration 9waxo     
n.表明,示范,论证,示威
参考例句:
  • His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
  • He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。
10 tragic inaw2     
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的
参考例句:
  • The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
  • Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。
11 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
12 license B9TzU     
n.执照,许可证,特许;v.许可,特许
参考例句:
  • The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
  • The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。
13 assessment vO7yu     
n.评价;评估;对财产的估价,被估定的金额
参考例句:
  • This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
  • What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何?
14 administrators d04952b3df94d47c04fc2dc28396a62d     
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
15 intervention e5sxZ     
n.介入,干涉,干预
参考例句:
  • The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
  • Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。
16 embarrassment fj9z8     
n.尴尬;使人为难的人(事物);障碍;窘迫
参考例句:
  • She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
  • Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。
17 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。