帶著孩子占領華爾街 機會教育

帶著孩子占領華爾街 機會教育


2011/11/10
At the Heart of a Protest, Parents See Chance to Teach Children
【By HELAINE OLEN／馮克芸譯】

Malka Lubelski marched for economic justice last month dressed as Minnie Mouse.
瑪爾卡．魯貝爾斯基上個月打扮成迪士尼卡通人物米妮，為爭取經濟正義而參加示威抗議活動。


In a pink costume with white polka dots and black mouse ears, she circled Zuccotti Park, the epicenter of the Occupy Wall Street protests, carrying a homemade sign that read “From the very young, the very old, we are the 99%.”
她穿著件粉紅色底、白色圓點的服裝，戴著兩隻黑色老鼠耳，繞著「占領華爾街」抗議活動的核心地紐約祖科蒂公園打轉，手上拿著自製標語，上面寫著「非常幼、非常老，我們來自99%」。


It would have been one more bit of street theater, except that Malka is 4, an age when girls are thought to be more interested in Disney characters than protest marches. Her father, Abraham Lubelski, publisher of NY Arts magazine, said he decided to take Malka and her 1 1/2-year-old sister, Josepha, to the scene so they could “see real human needs.”
這原可看作另一齣街頭劇，只不過瑪爾卡才四歲大，而這個年紀的女孩理應對迪士尼角色比示威抗議更感興趣。瑪爾卡的父親亞伯拉罕．魯貝爾斯基是《紐約藝術雜誌》的發行人，他說他決定帶瑪爾卡和她一歲半的妹妹喬瑟法到抗議現場，讓她們可以「見到真正的人的需求」。


And so it goes in the second month of the Occupy Wall Street protest, where children are becoming an increasing presence as parents try to seize a “teachable moment” on matters ranging from income inequality to the right to protest.
「占領華爾街」抗議活動進入第二個月，隨著許多父母努力掌握從收入不平等到抗議示威權利等議題的「機會教育良機」，現場孩童也越來越多。


A group called Parents for Occupy Wall Street, headed by Kirby Desmarais, a Brooklyn mother and record label owner, organized a sleepover at the park for more than 80 parents and children on a recent weekend night.
最近一個周末，「家長支持占領華爾街」團體在祖科蒂公園為現場八十多名家長和孩童，辦了一場過夜活動，帶頭的是住在紐約市布魯克林區、身為母親的唱片公司老闆柯碧．戴司馬芮斯。


But most mothers and fathers bring their children on their own. Some recall marching in antiwar protests in the 1960s and ’70s, and say they would like to show their children what it means to be part of a movement advocating for social change.
但多數為人父母者是主動把自己的孩子帶了去。有些人憶起1960及1970年代曾參加過反越戰示威活動，他們說想告訴孩子，參與一場提倡社會變遷的運動究竟是怎麼回事。


For Stephen Belber, a screenwriter who is adapting Dana Spiotta’s novel of 1970s left-wing activism gone awry, “Eat the Document,” Occupy Wall Street presents a unique opportunity to discuss his work with his two children,
對電影編劇貝柏來說，「占領華爾街」提供了獨特的機會，讓他跟兩個孩子討論自己的作品。貝柏正在改編美國女作家達娜．斯皮奧塔的小說《銷毀文件》，內容講的是一九七年代左傾激進主義扭曲變質的故事。他的兩個孩子分別是七歲的克蕾孟廷和11歲的托比。


Clementine, 7, and Tobi, 11. Clementine had questions. “Are the people who are sleeping here poor?” she asked, pointing to the tents and sleeping bags.
克蕾孟廷有許多問題，她指著現場的營帳和睡袋問道：「現在睡在這裡的都是窮人嗎？」


“They choose to be here,” her father replied. “They are upset because there are a few rich people and so many more poor people.”
「他們自己選擇來這裡，」她的父親答道：「他們很難過，因為世界上雖有那麼些有錢人，窮人卻多得多。」


Occupy Wall Street is hardly the first protest movement to include children. They were often present at civil rights marches, and more recently, boys and girls (complete with placards) have become a familiar presence at Tea Party events. There were children at Tahrir Square in Cairo, as well as at many other events that marked the Arab Spring.
「占領華爾街」並不是第一個納入孩童的示威運動。孩童過去經常出現在民權運動抗議活動中，近來許多孩子也常（帶著標語牌）出現在茶黨的活動中。開羅的解放廣場及阿拉伯之春許多其他活動的現場，也都有孩童。


A number of New York’s independent progressive-minded schools, like St. Ann’s in Brooklyn Heights, are encouraging their older students to visit Zuccotti Park. The Calhoun School on the Upper West Side has taken it a step further, with assigned projects to students from the upper school’s photography and journalism classes assigned projects that require a visit to the Occupy Wall Street encampment.
紐約市一些觀念先進的獨立學校，如布魯克林高地的聖安學校，鼓勵高年級學生造訪祖科蒂公園。紐約市上西城的卡爾霍恩學校更進一步，針對高年級的攝影及新聞課指定作業，要求學生造訪「占領華爾街」活動營地。


“We see the city as a classroom, and we don’t shy away from introducing our children to things that are controversial,” said Steve Nelson, the head of the school. “We want them to learn to examine and think critically about what is going on around them in the world.”
卡爾霍恩學校校長尼爾森說：「我們把整個城市視為教室，對於把爭議之事介紹給孩子們知道，我們並不迴避。」他還說：「我們希望他們學會仔細檢視那些發生在周遭世界的事，並且做批判性思考。」


Child therapists are divided on the appropriateness of taking children to the protest. Susan Bartell, a psychologist who writes for Babycenter. com, advises caution for the parents of children younger than 14. Madeline Levine, a psychologist, author of “The Price of Privilege,” disagreed. “We’ve done a lousy job of teaching civics in the country,” she said. ‘’Everything is cast in terms of what it does for your resume. There is something vital in being part of a group or a community.”
帶著孩童去示威抗議是否恰當，兒童治療專家意見分歧。在網站Babycenter.com撰文的心理學家蘇珊．巴特爾建議，家有14歲以下孩童的父母要審慎以對。《殊榮的代價》一書作者、心理學家梅德琳．拉文卻不同意，她說：「全美的公民課都教得很差勁。」她說：「我們總是拿對你的履歷有什麼好處來衡量一件事的價值。其實身為某個團體或社群的一員，也有極為重要的意義。」


Some parents said that they are so passionate about the cause, they’ve brought their children too many times to count. “I liken it to forcing them to go to church,” said Rivka Gewirtz Little, an organizer of the 99 Percent School, another group for parents who support the movement. “It’s important for them to learn your beliefs.”
有些家長說，他們非常支持「占領華爾街」活動的主張，帶著孩子前去參加的次數多不勝數。另一個支持這個運動的家長團體「百分之九十九學校」的發起人芮芙卡．吉渥茲．李特爾說：「我把這個活動看成跟逼孩子上教堂一樣，讓孩子認識父母的信念是很重要的事。」

【2011-11-08/聯合報/G9版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS】
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