Unit7 Kids and Computers Digital Danger翻译

Unit 9 Kids and Computers: Digital Danger

Alison Sperry

1. There's a familiar saying, "Play is children's work." Through play, people who study child development tell us, children develop the skills and outlooks that determine the adults they will become. Playing house or school, for example, helps them "try on" the roles of Mom or Dad or teacher. Athletic activities help kids develop coordination, learn to work as part of a group, and gain confidence and a sense of fair play. Even solitary activities like reading connect children with the wider world, encouraging a sense of empathy with the greater human family.

2. But in very recent years, other forms of entertainment have had an enormous impact on growing children. For many kids, computer activities and video games now take up much --even most -- of the time formerly devoted to more traditional forms of play. Entering adulthood now are the first Nintendo babies, a generation raised more on Virtual Boy and Mortal Kombat than baseball and Uncle Wiggly. How have they been affected by this change in the concept of "play"? Social scientists, parents, and talk show pundits will be debating the question for years to come. But we can start drawing our own conclusions. As amusing and ingenious as electronic entertainment can be, children -- and society they live in -- are the losers when they rely on these forms of fun. Unlike traditional games and toys, "wired" entertainment encourages kids to be unimaginative, socially immature, and crudely desensitized to the world around them. 然而，近几年来，其他的娱乐形式对孩子的成长产生了巨大的冲击。现在有许多孩子，电脑活动和电子游戏占据了他们的许多——甚至所有的——时间，以前这些时间是花在比较传统游戏上面的。现在长大成人的是第一批玩“任天堂”的孩子，是一代凭借玩“虚拟男孩”和“致命战斗”养大的，而并非靠打垒球或看连环画《维格列大叔》带大的。这种“玩”的理念上的变化对孩子产生了什么影响？社会科学家、家长，还有脱口秀专家在未来的岁月里将对这个问题争论不休。不过，我们可以开始得出我们自己的结论。虽然电子娱乐也许是很有趣，也很富有创意，但是，一旦沉湎于这种形式的娱乐，孩子以及他们生活的社会必定是输家。与传统的游戏和玩具不同，“联网”的娱乐形式会造成孩子缺乏想象力、社会生活不成熟，以及对身边世界毫无掩饰地麻木不仁的后果。

3. Watch a child take a ball of Play-Doh in her hand and begin to roll it experimentally. First it's a simple ball, then a snake. The snake might become a figure eight or a bracelet. She coils the bracelet on top of itself to create a pot that she uses for a make-believe tea party. Next she smashes the pot back into a ball, which may next morph into a snowman, a horse's head, a bunny, a sea serpent, or a skyscraper. With nothing but her hands and an inexpensive chunk of flour and salt, she forms a universe in which she makes the rules and creates the inhabitants. When she tires of it, she can wad it back into a shapeless mass that awaits her next creative impulse. The act of playing with the Play-Doh sparks other interests — maybe she'll work with modeling clay that she can bake into a permanent form, or paints, or papier-maché Although she doesn't give what she's doing a great deal of thought, she's learning something valuable: I am a creator. I can give my ideas tangible form.

4. A video game, on the other hand, is cynically programmed to give the illusion of creativity.

The player is given various choices at every turn — Which door will I go through? Which weapon will I use? What clue shall I read? —But they are choices in the same sense that a pigeon's pecking at a lever to get a grain of corn is a choice. The player is as much a tool of the game as the joystick. Her momentary fun is unsatisfying because it leads not to any genuine sense of achievement but only to the hypnotic experience of watching someone else's creation unfold. Hand a ball of Play-Doh to a child reared on the sterile adventure of video games, and you're apt to get a blank look and the hesitant question, "What do I do with it?" The video game player learns her own lesson: I don't create. I let someone else's creativity happen in front of me.

5. It's a beautiful Saturday in autumn, and a group of kids are playing a pickup game of soccer.

A dispute arises about whether a kick went over the foul line. Some of the kids are sure it did; others insist that it did not. Voices are raised; tempers flare. Maybe a hothead or two will stalk off the field. But the sky is crystal blue, and there are chores waiting at home. Making a quick calculation about the relative benefits of continuing the game, the players work out a solution. Maybe they replay the kick. Maybe they flip a coin. Maybe they agree to say that the ball was fair, or foul. Their willingness to compromise, to accept the idea that such give-and-take is part of life, allows the game to proceed. The players move on, having learned a small lesson about getting along with others.

6. Contrast that scene with the world of the Internet chat rooms, where many adolescents spend uncountable hours. On that same lovely Saturday, a young Internet queen hunches over her keyboard, alone in her room. Her buddy list includes dozens, even scores, of "friends" she's never met. Her fingers fly across the keyboard as she races from one dialogue box to another, keeping up multiple conversations. These are peculiar conversations, however, including none of the vulnerability that is part of real-world friendship. In the buddy-chat world, status is based on the ability to keep up a rapid pace of one-liners, insulting zingers, caustic put-downs. The chat queen's most intimate friendships take the form of brief alliances with buddies who join with her to "flame" another chatter who has displeased them. If that ally eventually becomes annoying, too, zap! She can instantaneously erase him from her buddy list, or even block him so he is unable to contact her again. It's no great loss. There are literally millions of new acquaintances waiting to be picked up in a chat room to fill that void. The lesson: I shouldn't have to work at relationships. They come and go instantly and at my convenience. If someone displeases me, I can make that person disappear.

7. When kids sit down to play Monopoly, they form a loosely knit group that is still part of the world around it. When company arrives at the house, it's no problem to halt the game briefly. The players can greet visitors, laugh together, talk about the game, even quickly rearrange it to include new players. Even after the game continues, chatting with other players and non-players is easily accomplished. Despite their involvement in the game, the players are not ruled by it. Human contact, courtesy, and communication are not seen as threats to their enjoyment. They are learning that they can enjoy their own activities and still be sensitive to the larger world around them.

8. Contrast this board game scene with one that has become depressingly familiar in many

living rooms. Visitors arrive at a home to find a child hunched in front of the TV set, video controls in his lap. Even when spoken to directly, he does not pull his eyes from the screen. "I'm playing!" is his furious response if the visitors persist in trying to engage his attention. Far too often, even his parents, intimidated by the high-priced, high-tech gadget that has sucked their child's humanity away, tiptoe around rather than disturb him. The game itself is all too likely to be one that presents the most hideous suffering as entertainment, with the player in the role of psychotic killer -- maybe in Duke Nukem, with its "twenty-three levels of nonstop carnage!" or Bloody Roar, which offers the player "more ways to maim, crush, and devour your enemies than ever."

9. The lesson?

10. Isn't it too awful to think about?

Chinese Translation of Paragraphs

1. 有一句众人皆知的俗语：“玩是孩子们的工作。”研究儿童发展的人告诉我们，孩子就是在玩的过程中培养技能和世界观，并由此决定他们长成怎样的成人。比如说，扮家家或假装上学帮助他们“尝试”妈妈、爸爸或老师的角色。体育活动帮助他们养成协作精神，学会作为团队一员的工作方法，以及培养自信心和光明磊落意识。甚至独自一人开展的活动，像阅读，让孩子们接触更为广阔的世界，鼓励他们养成对更多人富有同情心。

2. 然而，近几年来，其他的娱乐形式对孩子的成长产生了巨大的冲击。现在有许多孩子，电脑活动和电子游戏占据了他们的许多——甚至所有的——时间，以前这些时间是花在比较传统游戏上面的。现在长大成人的是第一批玩“任天堂”的孩子，是一代凭借玩“虚拟男孩”和“致命战斗”养大的，而并非靠打垒球或看连环画《维格列大叔》带大的。这种“玩”的理念上的变化对孩子产生了什么影响？社会科学家、家长，还有脱口秀专家在未来的岁月里将对这个问题争论不休。不过，我们可以开始得出我们自己的结论。虽然电子娱乐也许是很有趣，也很富有创意，但是，一旦沉湎于这种形式的娱乐，孩子以及他们生活的社会必定是输家。与传统的游戏和玩具不同，“联网”的娱乐形式会造成孩子缺乏想象力、社会生活不成熟，以及对身边世界毫无掩饰地麻木不仁的后果。

3. 看着一个孩子抓起一团橡皮泥，开始试着让它滚动起来。开始是一个普通的球，接着变成了一条蛇。这条蛇或许会变成8字形或一个手镯。孩子把手镯的上端卷起来，做出一把茶壶，她用这把茶壶举行一场假装的茶话会。接下来，她把茶壶又捏成一团，或许再做成雪人、马头、小兔子、海蛇，或者摩天大楼。除了用自己的双手、一团用面粉和盐混成的不值钱的一团东西，她不需要其他的东西，就可以做出一个世界，为之制定规则和创造居民。等她玩腻了，可以把它再次捏成没有形状的一团，等待下一次的创作冲动。玩耍橡皮泥还会激发其他的兴趣——她可能会用建模黏土做一样东西，烤制成一个永久的形状，或者图画，再或者纸浆制品。虽然她对自己做的事情没花太多的心思，但是她学会了有价值的东西：我是个创造者，我能给自己的想法赋予具体的形状。

4. 然而，电子游戏很可笑，是人为编程的，给人创新性的假想。玩游戏的人每一步有各种选择：要进那扇门？要用哪种武器？要阅读哪条线索？但是，这种选择，与鸽子口啄杠杆得到一粒玉米的选择是同样的道理。玩游戏的人与游戏操纵杆一样，都是游戏的工具。她那短暂的快乐是无法让她满足的，因为游戏带来并非真正意义上的成就感，而只不过是迷迷糊糊

地看着别人创作的东西展现眼前的一种体验。那一团橡皮泥要是交给在电子游戏贫乏的冒险经历中长大的孩子，很可能看到一脸茫然，还有犹豫不定的问题：“我用它干什么啊？”玩电子游戏的人吸取她自己的经验：我不创造。我让别人的创造发生在我的眼前。

5. 那是一个秋天美丽的周六，有一群孩子临时组织了一场足球赛。突然他们为足球是不是踢出了边线争论了起来。有几个说肯定踢出界了；其余几个坚持说没有。嗓门提高了，火气也大了。也许一两个暴脾气的家伙会大步走出场地。不过，天空一片湛蓝，而且家里还有些杂活要干。很快地盘算一下继续踢球有什么好处，于是球员们做出决定。也许他们重新踢一脚。也许他们掷硬币。也许他们一致同意，说那球没出线，或出线了。他们愿意妥协，接受在生活中就得互谅互让的理念，使得这场游戏继续下去。踢足球的孩子继续踢球，稍稍学会了与人相处的道理。

6. 拿互联网聊天室的场景来做个比较。有许多孩子在聊天室里不知道耗费了多少个小时。同样在那个可爱的星期六，一名年青的互联网皇后躬身坐在键盘前，房间里就她一个人。她的网友名单包括十几个，甚至几十个从来没有见过面的“朋友”。她的手指飞快地在键盘上移动，不停地从一个对话框转换到另一个对话框，同时与好几个人对话。然而，这是些奇怪的对话，并不包括现实世界里的友谊会给人带来伤害的内容。在与网友聊天的世界里，状态取决于能否跟得上在线朋友的快速节奏，羞辱那些话多、言词尖刻的人们。那位聊天皇后与什么人关系密切，就看谁能不能马上接手，和她一起对另一个惹他们生气的网友群起而攻之。如果这位盟友也变得讨厌了，那么嗒的一下！她会随时将他从网友名单上删去，或者甚至将他拒之圈外，让他永远不能再与她联系。这没有多大的损失。毫不夸张地说，聊天室里有的是成千上万的新伙伴等着填补那个空缺。获得的经验是：我并不非得为关系而忙碌。他们说来就来，说走就走，而且按照我的意愿。假如有人惹我生气，我可以让那家伙消失。

7. 孩子们坐下来玩“大赢家”游戏时，他们形成结构松散的小组，仍然是身边现实世界朋友中的一部分。有人来了，立刻停止游戏，没有问题。玩游戏的人与来访者打招呼，一起欢笑，讨论这个游戏，甚至马上重新安排，带上新人一起玩。甚至在游戏继续之后，与其他的玩游戏的人以及不玩的人谈话聊天都方便得很。虽然参与了这场游戏，但是玩游戏的人不受其限制。与人接触、客套寒暄，以及与人交际都不会被认为妨碍他们玩得开心。从中他们能学到自娱自乐和关心身边的人和事可以兼得。

8. 用这个棋盘游戏的场景与许多起居室里越来越常见的场景对照一下，后者令人失望。客人来造访，发现一个孩子躬身坐着在电视屏幕前，腿上放着电脑游戏的控制杆。连客人直接找他说话时，他两只眼睛仍然紧盯着屏幕。如果客人仍想吸引他的注意力，他会愤怒地回答道：“我在打游戏！”更经常发生的是，连孩子的父母宁愿踮着脚尖走路，而不去打扰他。他们已经被那套把孩子弄得丧失了人性的昂贵的、高科技的玩意儿吓得胆战心惊。这种游戏本身在很大程度上把令人发指的苦难作为娱乐。游戏玩家扮演精神病杀手的角色，犹如“纽克姆公爵”里23级不停的大屠杀，或者在“血腥的咆哮”里，让玩家拥有从未有过的更多摧残、碾压，甚至吞噬敌人的方法。

9. 学到的东西呢？

10. 一想到这些，难道不令人难受吗？