President Obama Was a Bully Victim (歐巴馬總統也曾經是霸凌的受害者)

President Obama Was a Bully Victim

　　President Obama, who was born in Hawaii and raised in Indonesia from the age of 5 until he was 10 years old, was a bully victim to such name calling as "big ears" and making fun of his last name. President Obama is taking action to help parents and schools to prevent children from bullying other children.

　　Within 13 million students, about a third of all those attending school are bullied every year. Kids who are seen as different because of their race, clothes, disability or funny accent are more likely to be bullied. Experts say, "Bullying puts kids at greater risk of falling behind in their studies, abusing drugs or alcohol, or suffering mental or other health problems."

　　President Obama and his wife, Michelle, sponsored a conference, Conference on Bullying Prevention, in the White House on March 7th. Obama stated that bullying is a torment and intimidation for children and it must not be tolerated.  He said bullying must not be considered as a harmless rite of passage or inevitable part of growing up, because bullying can have devastating effects for a child. He said, "Bullying can have destructive consequences for our young people. And it's not something we have to accept.”

　　Speaking as a parent and as a victim, Obama urged everyone to help end bullying by working to create an atmosphere at school where children feel safe and feel like they belong.

　　A new issue that is called cyber-bullying has been getting more attention mainly from texting, Facebook, Twitter and other technologies used to carry it out, due to media coverage of teens who have killed themselves after such taunting. However, it won't work if parents want to take away their children's computers and other electronic devices to spare them from bullying. Instead, it is better to understand what their kids are doing. Remember "Technology is out there. We cannot shut it off. "

　　Michelle Obama said parents need to be more involved in their children's lives, their schools and their activities. She said her youngest daughter, 9-year-old Sasha, often says "Nothing" in response to questions about her day at school.

　　The first lady also urged adults to set an example by treating others with compassion and respect, and giving each other the benefit of the doubt. "It sends a message to our kids about how they treat others," she said.

---------------------------------下列為中文譯文---------------------------------------

　　　　　　　　歐巴馬總統也曾經是霸凌的受害者

　　出生在夏威夷並且從五歲到10歲都居住在印尼的美國總統歐巴馬，也曾因為他的「大耳朵」及奇怪的姓氏而成為霸凌的受害者。現在歐巴馬總統要以實際的行動來幫助家長和學校實行防止兒童霸凌事件的措施。

　　全美每年大約有三分之一相當於1300萬的在學學生有被霸凌的經驗。那些因為不同的種族、不被認同的穿著以及身體上有缺陷或有奇怪口音的孩子都是容易被霸凌的對象。專家說：「更大的危機是霸凌會使孩子的學習成績退步，染上吸毒或酗酒的惡習，或產生精神及其他健康上的問題。」

　　今年三月七號歐巴馬總統和夫人蜜雪兒在白宮舉辦了一個防止霸凌的研討會。歐巴馬先生表示，霸凌會對兒童造成精神上的折磨及產生被脅迫的痛苦，所以絕對不可以容忍它的繼續存在。他認為不要把霸凌視為孩子在成長中的一種無傷的經歷或是必經的過成，因為這對一個孩子會產生非常負面的影響。他還說：「霸凌會對我們的年輕人造成嚴重的後果。這就是我們絕對不能接受的。」

　　談到身為父母也曾是霸凌的受害者，歐巴馬呼籲大家要一起合作來掃除霸凌，努力在校園中製造一種讓孩子有安全感和有歸屬感的氣氛。

　　由於媒體報導了一些有關青少年因被同學奚落而自殺的事件，最近一個稱為網路霸凌的新問題又開始得到了更多的關注。一部分的霸凌就是透過手機短訊、臉書、推特和其他網路技術來傳遞的。然而如果家長要禁止孩子們使用電腦或其他的電子通訊設備來避免網路霸凌是不會成功的，家長應以更深入了解孩子們在做什麼的方法來取代一味的禁止。必竟「科技已經成熟了到我們無法關掉它的地步」。

　　第一夫人蜜雪兒表示父母應當更加關注孩子們的日常生活，他們的學校和他們所參與的活動。她說每次問她9歲最小的女兒夏莎說「今天在學校有沒有什麼特別的事啊？」，夏莎總是回答「沒事，很好啊！」。

　　第一夫人還敦促成年人要以身作則，要以同情和尊重的方式來對待別人，並能設身處地的為對方著想。她說：「這就是在教我們的孩子如何的待人接物」。

＜文章結束＞

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