英国新闻听力 英格兰儿童幸福状态堪虞（在线收听）

The Good Childhood Report published yesterday by the Children's Society is a sobering read. It focuses on the 'subjective wellbeing' of children between ten and twelve; that is, how they say they're feeling - leaving aside how affluent or healthy they are. In a table of children in fifteen countries, English children came fourteenth, below Algeria and Ethiopia.

It's sad news; and we know from elsewhere that mental health difficulties are rising sharply among young people. Bullying is a particular problem and English girls are especially prone to feeling bad about their appearance and confidence. But why is this happening?

Various causes are proposed — our exam-focused education system,the influence of advertising and social media and so on. A common thread is that they encourage us to compare ourselves to other people or an idealised view of how things should be — how we should look, what we should achieve or the perfect existence we ought to be having. Psychologists call this 'the discrepancy monitor'.

Approaches drawn from Buddhism already play a role in efforts to change things for young people. One alternative to constantly comparing is focusing on what's happening in the present moment, with contentment and acceptance. There's plenty of research showing how mindfulness practices drawn from Buddhism, foster that attitude. Pausing and accessing a sense of calm can create the space for a young person to start letting go of the anxious belief that they're fat or ugly, or don't fit in.

What we call 'skilful action' is also important. In Buddhist teachings, acting ethically, with generosity and kindness, doesn't just benefit the recipient; it also helps us. A generous act encourages a more generous state of mind. That inclines us to act generously in the future, and brings a sense of satisfaction. That's why for Buddhism generosity, truthfulness, kindness and so on, are practices, qualities or skills that we can cultivate and refine.

The increasing pressures on young people and the signs of their growing unhappiness must mean that their emotional wellbeing is no longer something we can take for granted. Such wellbeing has long been the concern of Buddhism; but whatever its role, sources like the Good Childhood Report show the pressing need approaches if our children are to survive and thrive.

昨日，儿童协会发表的《美好童年报告》非常令人深思。该报告集中探索了10岁至12岁儿童的“主观幸福感”，也就是说他们自身的感受——而不考虑他们的贫富或健康状况。根据15个国家的儿童的状况制定的表格，英格兰排在第十四位，在阿尔及利亚和埃塞俄比亚之后。

这是非常令人感到悲哀的消息。我们从其他消息渠道得知，年轻人中精神健康问题剧增。其中，欺凌是尤其严重的问题，英格兰女孩更倾向于不满自己的外貌和自信心。但是为会出现这种情况？

报告提出了几种可能的原因——我们的应试教育体系，广告和社交媒体的影响等等。最常见的原因就是它们宣传鼓励我们和他人对比，宣扬事情理想的状态——我们应该看上去什么样，我们应该得到什么，我们应该做得如何完美。心理学家称这种现象为“差异监控”。

佛教的态度为改变年轻人的状态发挥了作用。不要经常攀比，以满足和接受的态度集中精力活在当下。大量研究表明，佛教宣扬的念力可以培养这种态度。暂停，达到思想的平静，这样可以给年轻人创造空间，释放“我很丑，我很胖”的焦虑想法，不要强求。

我们所说的“动作娴熟”也非常重要。在佛教教义中，注重伦理，慷慨，慈善，不仅仅使受者获益，也能帮助自身。慷慨的行为鼓励更开阔的思想。这样会使我们将来的行为更大度，带给我们满足感。这就是对佛教来说，慷慨，真实，善良等是我们应该培养和改善的品质的原因。

年轻人面临的压力越来越大，越来越不快乐，这表明我们不能再认为他们的情感幸福是理所当然的。佛教长期以来一直关注这种幸福感。但是无论起到什么作用，《美好童年报告》等信息来源表明，为了我们的儿童茁壮成长，探索新的方法迫在眉睫。