美国国家公共电台 NPR 'It's Preventable': Sandy Hook Parents Promote App For Reporting School Threats

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Today marks a dark day in American history. It has been six years since 26 children and educators were shot and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. The gunman later killed himself. Now a group of Sandy Hook parents are training students to try to spot warnings in order to prevent anything like that from happening again. The group is urging students to anonymously² report concerns through an app on their phones. NPR's Tovia Smith has the story.

TOVIA SMITH, BYLINE³: It's the same refrain after almost every incident. I knew something was up with that guy, or I knew he'd do something like this. In fact, government statistics show in 80 percent of school shootings, someone knew about the plan ahead of time - a point dramatized by the anti-gun violence group Sandy Hook Promise in a chilling, new PSA.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Look at me.

SMITH: The ad shows a fictitious⁴ shooter launching his attack after a series of warning signs went ignored - a painfully common reality.

MARK BARDEN: I literally⁵ think about it all the time - of all the ways what happened in Sandy Hook could've been prevented, and my little Daniel could be right here with me at home where he should be.

SMITH: Sandy Hook Promise co-founder Mark Barden lost his 7-year-old in the 2012 shooting, one of those cases where red flags were abundant.

BARDEN: I mean, that same kind of story keeps playing itself out. And, you know, we just keep knocking our head against the wall. Like, the warning signs were there. The warning signs were there. What are we doing? We know it's preventable.

DEBRA D'ANGELO: So Step one of this program - look for warning signs, signals and threats. What's a warning sign?

SMITH: Debra D'Angelo is a trainer for the See Something, Say Something program, which is free to schools. She's come to The Morgan School in Connecticut to give high schoolers a crash course in recognizing threats that may not be explicit⁶.

D'ANGELO: They will regret they ever met me. You'd be better off without me. It doesn't actually say the words, I'm going to do - fill in the blank. But those are threats because the words intend harm.

SMITH: Being able to report such concerns anonymously by app is a game changer for students like Becca Arribas Cockley.

BECCA ARRIBAS COCKLEY: Yeah, I think a lot of people - they don't want to be, like, the snitch of the school.

SMITH: Senior Daniel Radka agrees. A few years ago, he heard a kid threatening a school shooting but was too afraid to tell a teacher.

DANIEL RADKA: I didn't want it to get back to the kid that I had reported him. I did not want other people to know because it was kind of a joke, and I didn't know if that was cause enough to tell anyone.

SMITH: Turns out that wasn't a real threat. But next time, Radka says, a reporting app would be way more in his comfort zone.

RADKA: It's kind of like the difference between having a phone call and sending a text. You don't have to deal with that person face-to-face. You don't have to talk to that person. You say what you want to say, and then you're off the hook.

SMITH: Tips get triaged at a national call center by crisis counselors⁷ who can immediately involve local police and/or school officials. They can also message back and forth⁸ with the tipster. Many schools say the app has already paid off.

KIRK CARPENTER: I remember exactly where I was, and it still gives me chills because a life was saved that night.

SMITH: Kirk Carpenter, superintendent⁹ in Aztec, N.M., says when crisis counselors heard of a suicidal student there, they engaged with her, with school officials who could identify her and with police.

CARPENTER: Authorities were able to knock on the door and take that student from the home before any kind of act that could've been fatal.

SMITH: About eight states are funding statewide reporting systems. And many new apps are coming to market, costing up to several hundred dollars a month. Researcher Michael Planty is studying them with a Justice Department grant.

MICHAEL PLANTY: The interest in school-based tip lines is really taking off. And there's good reason to believe that they're promising¹⁰.

SMITH: But so far, the successes have been more about stopping suicides and bullying¹¹ than school shootings. Johns Hopkins professor Sheldon Greenberg, an expert in school safety, says that's unlikely to change.

SHELDON GREENBERG: We shouldn't raise the expectation too high. In regard to active shooters, the dots aren't always going to be put together as easily as people think they could be.

SMITH: Even when a solid lead is reported, the response can fall short, as happened in Parkland, Fla. Authorities did get tips about that school shooter but failed to adequately follow up.

SUSAN PAYNE: It's heartbreaking. I mean, there's nothing more heartbreaking.

SMITH: Susan Payne founded Safe2Tell, an anonymous¹ tip line developed after the Columbine shooting. She worries some new systems being peddled¹² to schools may not follow best practices. For example, she says tips should be fielded by law enforcement who have the tools to investigate more quickly than counselors.

PAYNE: We assume everybody is, oh, they're going to have this right. They're going to know how to do this. But this is an emerging field, and so, sometimes, you're seeing somebody check the box. We have a tip line. We have a mobile app. But is that meeting the standard of care for a tip line?

SMITH: Some also question whether anonymous tip lines are too prone¹³ to abuse, but Superintendent Carpenter says responders are trained to vet¹⁴ out the prank¹⁵ calls and intentionally¹⁶ false reports just meant to get someone in trouble.

CARPENTER: We've had a couple hoaxes¹⁷. And if some kids misuse¹⁸ it, then we can deal with it. But the bottom line is we have seen nothing but great benefit out of this.

SMITH: Ultimately, much of the success can't be measured. It's not just about foiling planned shootings, advocates say. No one will ever know, for example, if a case of bullying or depression that was nipped in the bud might've otherwise escalated¹⁹ into the next national tragedy. Tovia Smith, NPR News.

1 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

2 anonymously   

ad.用匿名的方式

参考例句：

• The manuscripts were submitted anonymously. 原稿是匿名送交的。
• Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 536 teachers anonymously. 方法采用自编“中小学教师职业压力问卷”对536名中小学教师进行无记名调查。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 fictitious   

adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的

参考例句：

• She invented a fictitious boyfriend to put him off.她虚构出一个男朋友来拒绝他。
• The story my mother told me when I was young is fictitious.小时候妈妈对我讲的那个故事是虚构的。

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

6 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

7 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

8 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

9 superintendent   

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。

10 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

11 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》

12 peddled   

（沿街）叫卖( peddle的过去式和过去分词 )； 兜售； 宣传； 散播

参考例句：

• He has peddled the myth that he is supporting the local population. 他散布说他支持当地群众。
• The farmer peddled his fruit from house to house. 那个农民挨家挨户兜售他的水果。

13 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

14 vet   

n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查

参考例句：

• I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
• Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。

15 prank   

n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己

参考例句：

• It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
• The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。

16 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

17 hoaxes   

n.恶作剧，戏弄( hoax的名词复数 )v.开玩笑骗某人，戏弄某人( hoax的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The disc jockey, a young separatist named Pierre Brassard, has made his name with such hoaxes. 这位名叫彼埃尔 - 布拉萨尔的音乐节目主持人，是一名年轻的分离主义者，以制造这类骗局闻名。 来自百科语句
• This chain-letter hoaxes, has mutated over the years. 这一骗局多年来在互联网上不断发展和变异。 来自互联网

18 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

19 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。