INTRODUCTION
導(dǎo)論

CHILDHOOD:A SOCIAL PROBLEM
童年：一個(gè)社會(huì)問(wèn)題

For some years childhood has been an objuct of intense social interest. Like other great movements this interest has not been aroused by any single individual but it has burst forth like a volcano shooting forth fires in all directions. Science provided the incentive for this new movement by drastically reducing the rate of infant mortality. Then it came to be realized that children were frequently worn out from the drudgery of their school work.
近年來(lái)，童年已經(jīng)成為引起社會(huì)極大興趣的一個(gè)問(wèn)題。像其他許多社會(huì)問(wèn)題一樣，這種興趣并不是由任何個(gè)人所引起的，但它像火山一樣朝四面八方噴出火焰?？茖W(xué)極大地降低了嬰兒的死亡率，從而刺激了這場(chǎng)新的運(yùn)動(dòng)。其次，人們也認(rèn)識(shí)到，兒童經(jīng)常被單調(diào)乏味的學(xué)校作業(yè)搞得精疲力竭。

Studies made of children's health showed that their lives were unhappy, their minds fatigued, their shoulders bent, and their chests so constricted that they easily fell prey to tuberculosis.
對(duì)兒童健康所做的研究也表明，他們的生活不幸、心理疲勞、腰酸背駝、胸腔畏縮，以致他們很容易成為結(jié)核菌的犧牲品。

But now, after decades of research, we have come to see that children are human beings whose lives have been warped by those who have given them their life and sustenance and by the society of adults about them. But what are children? For adults, who are taken up with their own ever more absorbing occupations, they are a constant source of trouble. In the cramped quarters of modern cities, where familied are crowded together, there is no real place for children. Certainly there is no place for them on the streets swarming with cars or on the sidewalks thronged with people hastening on their way. Adults have little time to spend on children since they are busy with their own pressing duties. Frequently both father and mother must work; and, if work is lacking, both they and their children endure great sufferings. Even when children live in more fortunate circumstances, they are confined to their rooms and entrusted to the care of strangers. They may not pass into that part of the house reserved for their parents. There is no place where they feel that they are understood and where they can carry out their own proper activities. They must keep quiet and inviolable, the exclusive property of adults and, consequently, forbidden to children. What do they own? Nothing. Not too long ago small children did not even have their own little chairs to use.
但現(xiàn)在，經(jīng)過(guò)幾十年的研究之后，我們終于認(rèn)識(shí)到兒童的生命被扭曲了；這是由于賦予他們生命和提供營(yíng)養(yǎng)品的父母以及他們周圍的成人社會(huì)所造成的。但兒童是什么呢？對(duì)于那些更關(guān)心自己富有吸引力的工作的成人來(lái)講，兒童永遠(yuǎn)是一種惹麻煩的根源。在現(xiàn)代大城市狹窄的地段，眾多的家庭擠作一團(tuán)，在家庭里兒童是沒(méi)有真正地位的。在擠滿汽車的大街上，或在人群匆匆趕路的人行道上，肯定沒(méi)有兒童活動(dòng)的余地。成人都忙于自己的刻不容緩的工作，沒(méi)有時(shí)間照管兒童。通常父母都必須工作；如果沒(méi)有工作，他們和他們的子女將會(huì)遭受到更大的痛苦。即使兒童生活在比較幸運(yùn)的環(huán)境中，他們也被限制在他們自己的空間里，由陌生人照管。他們不可以進(jìn)入父母的房間。沒(méi)有一個(gè)地方可使他們感到他們被理解了，可使他們進(jìn)行自己的活動(dòng)。他們必須保持安靜，不碰東西，因?yàn)闆](méi)有一樣?xùn)|西是他們自己的。每樣?xùn)|西都是神圣不可侵犯的，全都是成人的財(cái)產(chǎn)，結(jié)果對(duì)兒童來(lái)講都是禁物。那么兒童擁有什么呢？一無(wú)所有。在不久以前，幼兒甚至還沒(méi)有他們自己使用的小椅子。

The startling blindness of adults, their insensibility with regard to their own offspring, is something that is deeply rooted and of long duration. An adult who loves children but unconsciously condemns them inflicts upon them a secret sorrow which is a mirror of his own mistakes. The social question of childhood makes us appreciate the laws governing man's natural development. It gives us a new awareness of ourselves and a new direction to our social life.
成人的令人吃驚的魯莽，對(duì)他們的兒女的麻木不仁，這已是根深蒂固和由來(lái)已久的現(xiàn)象了。一個(gè)熱愛(ài)兒童但又無(wú)意識(shí)地責(zé)備了他們的成人，會(huì)給兒童留下一種內(nèi)在的悲哀，這種悲哀正是成人自己錯(cuò)誤的一種反映。童年的社會(huì)問(wèn)題使我們正確地理解支配人的自然發(fā)展的規(guī)律。它給我們一種新的自我意識(shí)，并使我的社會(huì)生活有一種新的方向。

【海藍(lán)點(diǎn)評(píng)】導(dǎo)論部分主要圍繞兒童是一個(gè)社會(huì)問(wèn)題。文章節(jié)選了導(dǎo)論的開(kāi)頭和結(jié)尾。一段是描述兒童在蒙臺(tái)梭利所處時(shí)代孩子們的一些表現(xiàn)；另一段是對(duì)兒童這一社會(huì)問(wèn)題的總結(jié)。我認(rèn)為描述的挺準(zhǔn)確的。歡迎各抒己見(jiàn)。