Obama：Bullying is abuse, not rite of passage 歐巴馬︰霸凌是摧殘，不是成長儀式

Obama：Bullying is abuse, not rite of passage 
歐巴馬︰霸凌是摧殘，不是成長儀式
2011-03-23◎ 魏國金

President Barack Obama urged students, parents and schools at a White House conference to take steps to reduce or end bullying in schools.
總統歐巴馬在一場白宮會議上敦促學生、家長與學校採取行動，減少或終結校園霸凌。

"Bullying can have destructive consequences for our young people-- from poor grades to suicide. Sometimes we’ve turned a blind eye to the problem," Obama told about150 students, parents, teachers and nonprofit leaders.
「霸凌恐對我們的年輕人產生毀滅性的後果—從成績不好到自殺。有時我們對這個問題視而不見，」歐巴馬對著約150名的學生、家長、老師與非營利組織領袖說。

"If there’s one goal of this conference, it’s to dispel the myth that bullying is just a harmless rite of passage or an inevitable part of growing up. It’s not," Obama said.
「如果這個會議有個目標，則是消除霸凌只不過是無害的成長儀式或長大免不了的部分之迷思。它不是這樣，」歐巴馬說。

Bullying can include verbal put-downs, rumor mongering, ostracizing or threatening or assaulting someone. Roughly one in three middle and high school students report being bullied, U.S. government statistics indicate.
霸凌可能包含言詞的貶損、造謠、排擠或威脅、攻擊某人等行為。美國政府的統計數據顯示，大約每3名初中與高中生中就有1人舉報遭霸凌。

In October, the Department of Education said schools that don’t address the bullying of gay students may lose government funds for failing to enforce gender-discrimination laws.
去年10月間，教育部表示，不處理同性戀學生霸凌問題的學校或許會因為沒有落實性別歧視法而失去政府補助。

新聞辭典

rite of passage︰（進入人生重要階段的）通過儀式。

turned a blind eye︰視而不見。例句 ︰The president turned a blind eye to corruption within his administration. （總統對其政府內部的貪污視而不見。）

put-downs︰名詞，指貶抑、奚落。兩字分開則為動詞，例句︰He is always putting his wife down.（他老是貶損他的妻子。）