鄒奇奇(Adora Svitak) 成年人能從孩子那里學到什么

 

Now, I want to start with a question: When was the last time you were called childish? For kids like me, being called childish can be a frequent occurrence. Every time we make irrational demands, exhibit irresponsible behavior, or display any other signs of being normal American citizens, we are called childish, which really bothers me. After all, take a look at these events: Imperialism and colonization, world wars, George W. Bush. Ask yourself: Who's responsible? Adults.

首先，我想問個問題：您最后一次被評論作“幼稚”是什么時候?對于像我這樣的孩子來說，被稱作“幼稚”是家常便飯。每當我們作出不合理的要求，表現(xiàn)出不負責任的行為，或者顯示出任何其他美國平民的跡象時，我們就被稱作“幼稚”。真煩的說?？傊?，看看這些事情吧，帝國主義和殖民，世界大戰(zhàn)——George W. Bush，捫心自問：是誰的責任?成年人的!

Now, what have kids done? Well, Anne Frank touched millions with her powerful account of the Holocaust, Ruby Bridges helped end segregation in the United States, and, most recently, Charlie Simpson helped to raise 120,000 pounds for Haition his little bike. So, as you can see evidenced by such examples, age has absolutely nothing to do with it. The traits the word childish addresses are seen so often in adults that we should abolish this age-discriminatory word when it comes to criticizing behavior associated with irresponsibility and irrational thinking.

那么，孩子們都做了什么?Anne Frank 以對大屠殺的有力記述感動了數(shù)百萬人;Ruby Bridges幫助了美國種族隔離的終止。此外，最近期的Charlie Simpson幫忙為海地籌集了120,000磅的捐款，在他小小的自行車上。于是，如您所見，這些例子證實了年齡與不負責任毫無關(guān)系。“幼稚”一詞所稱呼的特征，在成年人中如此常見，因此我們應當廢除這個有年齡偏見色彩的詞語。當批評與不負責任以及非理性思考相關(guān)的行為。

Thank you. Then again, who's to say that certain types of irrational thinking aren't exactly what the world needs? Maybe you've had grand plans before, but stopped yourself, thinking: That's impossible or that costs too much or that won't benefit me. For better or worse, we kids aren't hampered as muchwhen it comes to thinking about reasons why not to do things. Kids can be full of inspiring aspirations and hopeful thinking, like my wish that no one went hungry or that everything were free kind of utopia. How many of you still dream like that and believe in the possibilities? Sometimes a knowledge of history and the past failures of utopian ideals can be a burden because you know that if everything were free, that the food stocks would become depleted, and scarce and lead to chaos. On the other hand, we kids still dream about perfection. And that's a good thing because in order to make anything a reality, you have to dream about it first.

謝謝!再說了，誰又能說怎樣的非理性思考不是世界所需的?也許你曾想象大展宏圖，又阻止了自己，又阻止了自己心想。“那不可能的”或“代價太高”或“于我無益”，與您不同我們孩子很少受到這樣的牽制，當考慮為什么不做某事時孩子們充滿了鼓舞人心的抱負以及抱有希望的考慮，就像我的愿望“沒人挨餓”或者“一切都是自由的那種烏托邦”，你們當中有多少仍心存這樣的夢想且相信它們有實現(xiàn)的可能?有時知曉烏托邦式理想的歷史以及它們曾有的失敗，可以是個重負。因為您知道如果一切都自由，食品儲備耗盡、缺乏導致混亂。另一方面我們孩子仍然夢想著完美，這是好事。因為，要實現(xiàn)任何一件事您都得先構(gòu)想才行。

In many ways, our audacity to imagine helps push the boundaries of possibility. For instance, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington, my home state -- yoohoo Washington -- (Applause) has a program called Kids Design Glass, and kids draw their own ideas for glass art. Now, the resident artist said they got some of their best ideas through the program because kids don't think about the limitations of how hard it can be to blow glass into certain shapes. They just think of good ideas. Now, when you think of glass, you might think of colorful Chihuly designs or maybe Italian vases, but kids challenge glass artists to go beyond that into the realm of broken-hearted snakes and bacon boys, who you can see has meat vision. (Laughter)

我們的大膽想象正通過各種途徑協(xié)助拓寬可能性的邊界，例如，華盛頓塔科馬的玻璃博物館Yoo-hoo，華盛頓我的家鄉(xiāng)。有個計劃叫做“孩子設(shè)計的玻璃”孩子們畫出他們玻璃工藝品的構(gòu)思，于是駐留的藝術(shù)家說他們通過此計劃想到了絕佳的點子，因為孩子不考慮將玻璃吹出特定形狀的難度限制他們只想好構(gòu)思，當您想到玻璃時您可能會想到色彩鮮艷的Chihuly設(shè)計或者可能會想到意大利花瓶，但孩子這樣挑戰(zhàn)玻璃藝術(shù)家(視頻圖片)超越他們進入《心碎小蛇》與《熏肉小孩》的境界——看呀，對肉的幻想!

Now, our inherent wisdom doesn't have to be insiders' knowledge. Kids already do a lot of learning from adults, and we have a lot to share. I think that adults should start learning from kids. Now, I do most of my speaking in front of an education crowd, teachers and students, and I like this analogy. It shouldn't just be a teacher at the head of the classroom telling students do this, do that. The students should teach their teachers. Learning between grown ups and kids should be reciprocal. The reality, unfortunately, is a little different, and it has a lot to do with trust, or a lack of it. Now, if you don't trust someone, you place restrictions on them, right. If I doubt my older sister's ability to pay back the 10 percent interest I established on her last loan, I'm going to withhold her ability to get more money from me until she pays it back. (Laughter) True story, by the way. Now, adults seem to have a prevalently restrictive attitude towards kids from every "don't do that," "don't do this" in the school handbook, to restrictions on school internet use. As history points out, regimes become oppressive when they're fearful about keeping control. And, although adults may not be quite at the level of totalitarian regimes, kids have no, or very little, say in making the rules, when really the attitude should be reciprocal, meaning that the adult population should learn and take into account

the wishes of the younger population.

于是，我們內(nèi)在的智慧沒必要為內(nèi)行人所認可，孩子已經(jīng)從成年人那里學到了很多，我們有很多共同之處。我認為成年人應該開始向孩子們學習，現(xiàn)在我的演講主要是針對受過教育的群眾教師與學生，我想這樣打比方不應該只是老師站在教師前面告訴學生干這樣干那樣，學生應該教他們的老師成年人與孩子之間的學習應該調(diào)換。而現(xiàn)實呢?很不幸，有所不同，這與信任或者說缺乏信任有很大關(guān)系。如果你不信任誰，您就對他施加約束對嗎?如果我懷疑我姐姐償還10%利息的能力，我會根據(jù)她上次借錢的情況不給她再從我這個拿錢的機會，除非她還錢，順便說下這是真事。在成年人中似乎盛行對孩子的約束姿態(tài)，從學生守則上的每一句“別這樣干”、“別那樣干”到學校internet的使用限制。如歷史所證，政權(quán)往往會在擔心難以實施控制時變得暴虐，盡管成年人不完全處于極權(quán)主義政權(quán)的水平，制定規(guī)則時孩子們沒有或者只有很少的發(fā)言權(quán)當態(tài)度真的該調(diào)換時意味著成人應該了解并考慮年輕人的意愿。

Now, what's even worse than restriction is that adults often underestimate kids abilities. We love challenges, but when expectations are low, trust me, we will sink to them. My own parents had anything but low expectations for me and my sister. Okay, so they didn't tell us to become doctors or lawyers or anything like that, but my dad did read to us about Aristotle and pioneer germ fighters when lots of other kids were hearing "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round." Well, we heard that one too, but "Pioneer Germ Fighters" totally rules. (Laughter)

但比限制更糟糕的是成年人經(jīng)常低估孩子的能力，我們喜歡挑戰(zhàn)，但當期望值很低時，相信我，我們會感到失望的。我父母對我和我姐姐除了低期望外什么都有。嗯，所以他們沒有讓我們從事醫(yī)生或律師或者類似的職業(yè)。但我爸爸確實給我們度過亞里士多德和《微生物先驅(qū)勇士》(兒童文學，1962年出版)，當其他很多孩子還在聽“巴士的輪兒轉(zhuǎn)呀轉(zhuǎn)”的時候。嗯，我們也聽過那首兒歌，但我們完全被《微生物先去勇士》統(tǒng)治了。

I loved to write from the age of four, and when I was six my mom bought me my own laptop equipped with Microsoft Word. Thank you Bill Gates and thank you Ma. I wrote over 300 short stories on that little laptop, and I wanted to get published. Instead of just scoffing at this heresy that a kid wanted to get published, or saying wait until you're older, my parents were really supportive. Many publishers were not quite so encouraging. One large children's publisher ironically saying that they didn't work with children. Children's publisher not working with children? I don't know, you're kind of alienating a large client there. (Laughter) Now, one publisher, Action Publishing, was willing to take that leap and trust me, and to listen to what I had to say. They published my first book, "Flying Fingers," -- you see it here -- and from there on, it's gone to speaking at hundreds of schools, keynoting to thousands of educators, and finally, today, speaking to you.

我自四歲起喜歡上寫作，當我六歲時我媽媽給我購置了配備有Microsoft Word的筆記本，感謝Bill Gates 感謝媽。我在那臺小筆記本上寫了三百多篇短篇小說，然后我就想發(fā)表這些小說，我的父母沒有嘲笑這個異端也沒有說“等你長大些”他們非常支持。很多出版社可不這么鼓舞人心，一家大的兒童出版社很諷刺的說：“他們不和兒童共事”。兒童出版社不和兒童共事?我不知道，您可是在孤立一個很大的客戶群呀!然后一家出版社Action Publishing愿意摒除偏見信任我并聆聽我的告白，他們出版了我的第一本書《飛舞的手指》(Flying Fingers)，從那以后它在數(shù)百學校風靡為數(shù)千教育家定調(diào)。最終，今天給您做演講。

I appreciate your attention today, because to show that you truly care, you listen. But there's a problem with this rosy picture of kids being so much better than adults. Kids grow up and become adults just like you. (Laughter) Or just like you, really? The goal is not to turn kids into your kind of adult, but rather better adults than you have been, which may be a little challenging considering your guys credentials, but the way progress happens is because new generations and new eras grow and develop and become better than the previous ones. It's the reason we're not in the Dark Ages anymore. No matter your position of place in life, it is imperative to create opportunities for children so that we can grow up to blow you away. (Laughter)

非常感謝您今天的關(guān)注，因為為了顯示出您真的關(guān)心您在聽。但“孩子比成年人好這么多”這樣樂觀的心態(tài)也有個問題，孩子也會長大變成你們這樣的成年人。像你們這樣，真的?目的在于不把孩子變成你們這樣的成年人而是比你們更好的成年人，他們可能會富于挑戰(zhàn)性，考慮您的資歷，但進步就是這樣發(fā)生。因為，一浪更比一浪強，因為我們不再處于黑暗時代，不論您在實際生活中地位如何為孩子創(chuàng)造把你們拍在沙灘上的機會很重要。

Adults and fellow TEDsters, you need to listen and learn from kids and trust us and expect more from us. You must lend an ear today, because we are the leaders of tomorrow, which means we're going to be taking care of you when you're old and senile. No, just kidding. No, really, we are going to be the next generation, the ones who will bring this world forward. And, in case you don't think that this really has meaning for you, remember that cloning is possible, and that involves going through childhood again, in which case, you'll want to be heard just like my generation. Now, the world needs opportunities for new leaders and new ideas. Kids need opportunities to lead and succeed. Are you ready to make the match? Because the world's problems shouldn't be the human family's heirloom. Thank you. (Applause) Thank you.

Thank you.

成年人還有同樣從事TED的人們，你們需要傾聽并向孩子學習，信任我們隊我們有更多的期待?，F(xiàn)在您必須彎下腰聽聽我們的話，因為我們是未來的領(lǐng)導者(you must lend an ear today, because we are the leaders of tomorrow)我們將在你們年邁力衰時照顧你們。不，只是開玩笑。不，真的，我們將成為下一代，將要推動世界發(fā)展的一代。為防止你們想這對你們沒有意義，記住克隆是可能的也就意味著重度童年，這樣您就會希望有人傾聽您的話就像我們這一代。世界需要新的領(lǐng)袖和新想法的機會，孩子也需要引領(lǐng)和成功的機會，你們準備好“作媒”了嗎?因為世界上現(xiàn)在的問題不應該像傳家寶那樣在人類家族中流傳下去。謝謝!