Stow the Flash Cards Mom and Dad:Social Skills Better for Your Kids兒童教育：社交技能重于識字卡

文/利茲·紹博 格雷格·托波 譯/周忠花

By Liz Szabo & Greg Toppo

眾所周知，望子成龍心切的父母會在幼兒尚處襁褓之時便為他們播放莫扎特的音樂，也會在他們尚未步入學堂之時便手持識字卡向他們發問。

[2]但基于一項新研究，這些父母或許會再度關注對孩子為人處世的基礎教育，如學會分享以及機會均等。

[3]這項研究對750余名年僅5歲的孩子進行了為期20年的跟蹤調查，最終發現具有較強社交能力和情緒管理能力的學齡前兒童比其他孩子更容易在學術和事業上有所造詣。

這是新近發布的兩項研究之一，這兩項研究均表明了童年生活對孩子一生的影響。

[4]根據這項發表于《美國公共衛生雜志》的研究，幼兒園時期在“社交能力”一項取得高分的孩子比同齡人更有可能按時完成中學學業，獲得大學學位并擁有穩定工作。但文章指出，社交能力并不僅僅指結交朋友。事實上，老師們會從團隊協作、解決沖突、傾聽他人意見以及謙和地提供建議等多方面對孩子們的表現進行考評。

Parents who want their kids to succeed have been known to play Mozart in the nursery and quiz their preschoolers1preschooler學齡前兒童。with fl ash cards2flash card識字卡。.

[2] A new study suggests these parents might want to go back to the basics by teaching children to share and take turns.

[3] Kindergartners with strong social and emotional skills were more likely than their peers to succeed academically and professionally, according to a 20-year study that followed more than 750 children until age 25.

The study is one of two published recently that illustrate how a child’s early childhood shapes adult life.

[4] In the first study, youngsters whose kindergarten teachers gave them the highest scores on “social competence” were more likely than other kids to graduate high school on time, earn a college degree and hold full-time jobs. Social competence involves more than making friends,according to the study, published in the American Journal of Public Health3《美國公共衛生雜志》為美國公共衛生協會會刊，成立于1911年，旨在推動公共衛生的研究、政策、現狀和教育。.Teachers rated kids on the ability to cooperate, resolve conflicts, listen to others’ points of view, give suggestions without being bossy4bossy 專橫的。and other skills.

[5] Kids with weaker social skills were more likely to develop substance abuse5substance abuse（精神性）藥物濫用。problems, be unemployed, smoke pot6pot〈俚語〉大麻。, get arrested, live in public housing or receive public assistance, according to the study, which included children from low-income neighborhoods in Nashville; Seattle; Durham, N.C.7N.C.為North Carolina縮寫，即美國北卡羅來納州。; and central Pennsylvania.

[6] For some measures of adult success, good social skills appeared to be more important than academic ability,said co-author Damon Jones, a senior research associate at Pennsylvania State University. Likewise, social competence often proved to be a better predictor than race, sex or family income.

[5]而在考評中表現不佳的孩子則更易于出現濫用藥物、失業、吸食毒品、鋃鐺入獄、居住廉租房以及接受公共救濟借以度日等問題。值得一提的是，研究中的孩子有的來自納什維爾、西雅圖、北卡羅來納州達勒姆市和賓夕法尼亞州中部等地區低收入居民區。

[6]按成人的一些成功標準來看，良好的社交技能似乎比學術能力更為重要，賓夕法尼亞州立大學高級助理研究員，同時也是此項研究作者之一的戴蒙·瓊斯表示。而且，社交能力通常比種族、性別以及家庭收入更能決定一個人的未來。

[7]但兒科醫師迪娜·莉瑟爾認為，幼時社交能力差并不意味著就與成功無緣。

[7] Children with poor social skills in kindergarten are by no means a lost cause8lost cause必將失敗的事業，敗局已定的事業。, pediatrician9pediatrician兒科醫師。Dina Lieser said.

[8] The study provides a hopeful message, because it’s possible to improve social skills throughout childhood, said Lieser, chairwoman of the American Academy of Pediatrics10美國兒科學會致力于幫助嬰幼兒、青少年和年輕人解決身體和心理上的一切問題，代表著美國育兒領域最前沿的研究水平和最豐’council on early childhood, who wasn’t involved in the study.

[9] A growing number of studies point to the importance of early childhood experiences in shaping the brain and later behavior. A 2011 study found that people who showed more selfcontrol as preschoolers were healthier and wealthier by age 32, even after researchers considered influential factors such as IQ11為intelligencequotient（智力商數）的縮寫，簡稱智商。and social class.

[10] A second new study found that psychiatric12psychiatric精神病學的；精神病治療的。troubles in the teen and preteen years predicted future problems in adult life.

[11] That study, published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry13JAMA為《美國醫學會雜志》（The Journal of the American Medical Association）的縮寫，是美國醫學會主辦的一種綜合性臨床醫學雜志，創辦于1883年,是國際四大著名醫學周刊之一。《美國醫學會雜志·精神病學》（JAMA Psychiatry）為其分刊。, found that children who had mental health problems at ages 9 to 16 were more likely to suffer legal, fi nancial, health or social problems by age 19 to 26.

[8]相反，莉瑟爾認為，這項研究給人們帶來了希望，因為社交能力隨著兒童成長存在提高的可能。莉瑟爾是美國兒科學會幼兒教育委員會主席，并未參與此項研究。

[9]童年經歷會對個人智力和后期行為產生不可忽視的影響，這一點已經得到越來越多研究的證實。2011年的一項研究發現，即使將智商和社會階層等其他影響因素考慮在內，學前時期更為自律的孩子到32歲時還是更為健康和富有。

[10]另一項研究則發現，青少年時期的精神困擾會影響未來成年后的生活。

[11]這項周三發表于《美國醫學會雜志·精神病學》的研究還指出，9至16歲年齡段患有心理疾病的孩子更有可能在19至26歲期間遭遇法律、經濟、健康和社交上的問題。

[12]事實上，心理疾病在這批研究對象中非常普遍，近半數以上的孩子都未能幸免。這項研究是大霧山研究項目的一部分，其研究對象主要來自于北卡羅來納州11個以農業為主的縣區。

[12] Mental health problems were common in the research project,affecting more than half of the children in the study, part of the Great Smoky Mountains Study14大霧山研究項目始于1993年，因研究對象來自北卡羅來納州西部，而該地區又屬于大霧山山區，故此得名。大霧山國家公園，也稱大煙山，位于田納西州與北卡羅來納州交界處，是美國最受歡迎的國家公園。, which included children from 11 mostly rural counties in North Carolina.

[13] About 26% of 1,420 children in the study met the criteria for a behavioral or emotional disorders,such as depression, anxiety, substance use disorder or attention-deficit/hyperactivity15hyperactivity極度活躍，活動過度。disorder. About 31% of children had a psychiatric problem that was troubling but didn’t met the criteria for an official diagnosis.

[14] Researchers followed the children to see which ones developed a major problem in adulthood, such as becoming suicidal, becoming addicted to drugs,developing multiple psychiatric problems, being charged with a felony16felony嚴重犯罪（如謀殺、放火、強奸等）。,being incarcerated17incarcerate監禁，下獄；禁閉。, dropping out of high school or becoming a teen parent.

[15] Nearly 20% of healthy kids experienced one of these problems,compared with 42% of those with mild mental health problems and 60%of those with a diagnosed psychiatric disorder, according to the research.

[13]研究發現，參與研究的1420名兒童中符合行為和情緒障礙癥狀的占近26%，具體癥狀包括抑郁、焦慮、藥物濫用、注意力缺陷或者多動癥等。此外，約有31%的研究對象有心理問題，但尚不符合正式診斷標準。

[14]研究人員通過對孩子們進行跟蹤調查，研究他們成年之后的主要問題，如具有自殺傾向、沉迷毒品、身患多重精神疾病、被控重罪、遭遇監禁、中學輟學以及早育。

[15]根據這項研究，心理健康的孩子長大后出現上述問題的僅占近20%，而在患有輕微心理疾病的孩子和被確診患有精神疾病的孩子中，這一比例卻分別高達42%和60%。

[16]但在患有精神障礙的孩子中，僅有40%曾接受過些許幫助，而真正在專業心理健康機構接受過治療的也不過20%，杜克大學醫學院副教授威廉·科普蘭表示。

[16] Only 40% of kids with psychiatric problems got any help at all,and only 20% were treated at a specialty mental health facility, said study co-author William Copeland, an associate professor at the Duke University School of Medicine.

[17] Copeland said his study shows it’s important to help these high-risk youngsters. “These problems don’t just resolve themselves and go away,”Copeland said.

[18] Pediatricians should screen children for social, emotional and behavioral problems and, if needed,arrange for help for parents, as well,Lieser said. Treating a mother’s depression, for example, can help the whole family.

[19] Early-childhood education advocates say investing in education can help communities reap18reap收獲，收割。benefits that go well beyond the costs of sending a typical 3- or 4-year-old to a high-quality preschool. An often-quoted figure promises that $1 invested in preschool and other early interventions can yield as much as $16 or $17 in benefits down the road.

[17]科普蘭認為該研究已經證實幫助這些高風險人群具有十分重要的意義。 “這些問題不會自行消弭，”科普蘭說道。

[18]莉瑟爾則認為，兒科醫師應該從社交、情緒和行為方面對兒童作全面檢查，而且如果條件允許的話，還應該為兒童父母提供必要的幫助。比如，治愈母親的抑郁會對整個家庭產生積極的影響。

[19]幼兒教育的倡導者聲稱，教育投資為社區所帶來的收益要遠遠超過將一名三四歲孩童送到高質量幼兒園的花費。有一項數據經常被引用，在幼兒園以及其他兒童教育機構中每投入1美元，便能在未來創造16或17美元的收益。

[20]或許最廣為人知的案例——瓊斯在研究中也有引用——包括正在進行的佩里學前教育研究計劃。佩里學前教育研究是20世紀60年代由美國高瞻教育研究基金會在密歇根州伊普西蘭蒂組織的實驗研究項目。該項目對當地約125名家境貧困的非裔兒童的跟蹤調查持續到青年時期，最終發現接受佩里學前教育的孩子較少需要特殊教育服務；擁有更高的中學畢業率；其年輕女性早育的比例也僅為對照組的一半。

[20] Perhaps the most well-known example—and Jones cites it in his study—involves the ongoing study of the Perry Preschool19Perry Preschool Program Study佩里學前教育研究項目是由美國海斯科普教育研究基金會組織的實驗研究項目，也是美國最早啟動、最具名氣的幼兒教育長期研究項目，其實驗研究結果有力地證明了幼兒教育對人的未來發展具有長遠的影響。, a Ypsilanti,Mich., program that served poor African-American children in the 1960s. Researchers with the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation20High/Scope Educational Research Foundation美國海斯科普教育研究基金會，也譯高瞻教育研究基金會，是全美學前教育研究和評價方面的權威機構，致力于將主動學習應用到實際課程中去，開發海斯科普課程，進行教育質量評估，開展早期教育項目有效性的相關研究，以及培訓早教教師及管理人員。其最為有名的研究項目即為佩里學前教育研究項目。,based in Ypsilanti, tracked about 125 local children through their 20s and found that those who had gone through the Perry program needed fewer special education services, had higher high school graduation rates and, among young women, had a teen pregnancy rate that was about half that of a control group.

[21] The study has followed participants into their 40s, and subsequent research has found that the Perry kids earned more as adults, were less likely to have committed crimes or gone to jail, and were less likely to receive public assistance.

[21]這項研究一直持續到實驗對象步入40歲，后續的研究發現，接受過佩里學前教育的孩子在成年之后薪資更高，犯罪服刑率更低，接受政府救濟的可能性也更低。

[22]“如果對兒童成長予以干預，他們所能取得的進步簡直驚人，而且這樣的機會一直到他們五歲之后才會消失。”喬伊斯·哈里森表示。哈里森是巴爾的摩約翰·霍普金斯大學醫學院一名主攻兒童與青少年精神病學的副教授，并未參與此項目。“孩子們進入幼兒園以后，這樣大好的機會便不再了。當然，這并不是說沒有實施干預的可能了，而是在此之后的干預更難。兒童早期的強大可塑性在五歲之后便會逐漸降低。”哈里森繼續

[22] “You have this window up to age 5, where if you intervene, it’s amazing the progress these kids can make,” said Joyce Harrison, an assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, who wasn’t involved in the study. “By the time kids get to kindergarten, we’ve lost a really big window. It’s not impossible to intervene, but it does get harder. There is this huge malleability21malleability可鍛性。that decreases at age 5.”

[23] Communities today often miss the opportunity to help youngsters develop their social, emotional and behavioral skills, Harrison said.

[24] “So often, kids who start out behind end up staying behind,” Lieser said. ■

[23]他認為，在幫助青少年發展社交、情感和行為能力方面，現如今的社區常常錯失良機。

[24]“孩子如果輸在起跑線，通常也就輸在終點線。”莉瑟爾表示。 □