CNN 2010-04-16

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Shaneika Lewis is counting the days until her high school graduation. It's a day that almost didn't happen. She fell in with the wrong crowd and considered dropping out.

 

SHANEIKA LEWIS, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: People were friends with me because they were scared of me. They were friends with me because they wanted to see something happen. I was somebody else's laugh. Any time they see me, they could easily know which buttons to push.

 

BALDWIN: Early in Shaneika's teen years she became a bully¹. It started with words, tormenting³ her classmates verbally. When she got older, her aggression⁴ turned violent, forcing her father to intervene two years ago.

 

LEWIS: Being a bully really was degrading. And I can see how those people feel, whoever I used to pick on, torment², how they felt. Because when I had that feeling, it lowered me as a person. I felt less than human.

BALDWIN: Shaneika's life changed after her dad brought her here, to Ladies of Favor. It's a faith-based, non-profit mentoring⁶ program which helps young girls address issues like low self-esteem, bullying⁷ and self respect.

 

GABRIELLE STARR, FOUNDER⁸, LADIES OF FAVOR: As a teenager, I went through an array of things. I dealt with low self-esteem. I dealt with trying to find myself. And a lot of the issues that our young girls are facing, that was me.

 

BALDWIN: Shaneika sat with a mentor⁵ once a week where they would discuss self confidence, character building and how to become a leader.

 

DR. NADINE KASLOW, EMORY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: There's lots of jealousy⁹.

 

BALDWIN: Why do certain girls, like Shaneika, become bullies¹⁰? Doctor Nadine Kaslow says it begins in a social setting when girls are trying to figure out who their friends are.

 

KASLOW: There's lots of competition. There's lots of sort of struggles to express their own identity. Girls often feel helpless and powerless. Being relationally aggressive is a way to try to assume power.

 

BALDWIN: Shaneika has faced her own struggles and now knows not to resort to violence to be popular.

 

LEWIS: If I wasn't in Ladies of Favor today, I could honestly say, I don't really know where I would be at right now.

 

STARR: Shaneika is a very, very bright young lady. She's very smart. She's very articulate. But it was just something on the inside that had been damaged and she was trying to find a way out.

 

BALDWIN: Ladies of Favor helped Shaneika address the issues she was facing. She would discover --

 

LEWIS: That I'm a phenomenal woman.

 

BALDWIN: Now she fights with a new weapon, self confidence, which has prepared her to face an important day, graduation.
 

1 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

2 torment   

n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠

参考例句：

• He has never suffered the torment of rejection.他从未经受过遭人拒绝的痛苦。
• Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each other.没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。

3 tormenting   

使痛苦的，使苦恼的

参考例句：

• He took too much pleasure in tormenting an ugly monster called Caliban. 他喜欢一味捉弄一个名叫凯列班的丑妖怪。
• The children were scolded for tormenting animals. 孩子们因折磨动物而受到责骂。

4 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

5 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

6 mentoring   

n.mentoring是一种工作关系。mentor通常是处在比mentee更高工作职位上的有影响力的人。他/她有比‘mentee’更丰富的工作经验和知识，并用心支持mentee的职业（发展）。v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• One of the most effective instruments for coaching and mentoring is the "role rehearsal" . 辅导和教学的最有效的手段之一是“角色排练。” 来自辞典例句
• Bell Canada called their mentoring system a buddy-buddy system. 加拿大贝尔公司称他们的训导系统是伙伴—伙伴系统。 来自互联网

7 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 Founder   

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。

9 jealousy   

n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌

参考例句：

• Some women have a disposition to jealousy.有些女人生性爱妒忌。
• I can't support your jealousy any longer.我再也无法忍受你的嫉妒了。

10 bullies   

n.欺凌弱小者, 开球 vt.恐吓, 威胁, 欺负

参考例句：

• Standing up to bullies takes plenty of backbone. 勇敢地对付暴徒需有大无畏精神。
• Bullies can make your life hell. 恃强欺弱者能让你的日子像活地狱。