英国贫困学童陷入饥饿困境 [英国媒体]

Child poverty: Pale and hungry pupils 'fill pockets with school food'

儿童贫困：苍白而饥饿的小学生“把学生餐塞进衣兜”

By Hannah Richardson
BBC News Education Reporter in Brighton

作者：汉娜·理查德森
BBC新闻教育记者发于布莱顿  



图片版权：GETTY IMAGES

Malnourished pupils with grey skin are "filling their pockets" with food from school canteens in poor areas due to poverty, head teachers say.

一些学校的班主任说，他们班上有穷孩子把学校食堂里的食品“塞进衣兜里”。这些孩子来自贫穷地区，因为营养不良造成皮肤颜色发灰。

The heads, from various parts of England and Wales, described how some of their poorest pupils looked thinner, had poor teeth and a grey pallor.

这些班主任来自英格兰和威尔士的不同地区，他们描述了他们班上一些最穷的孩子是如何瘦弱，有一口坏牙，皮肤灰白。

One head said: "My children have grey skin, poor teeth, poor hair, they are thinner."

一名班主任说：“我的孩子们的皮肤发灰，牙不好，头发也不好，他们越来越瘦。”

The government said measures were in place to tackle poverty.

政府说将采取措施应对贫困问题。

Lynn, a head teacher from a former industrial town in Cumbria, did not want to give her full name for fear of shaming families in her school community.

琳是一名来自前工业城镇坎布里亚的班主任，因为担心会使她学区的一些家庭蒙羞而要求不要报道她的全名。

She was one of a number of head teachers speaking to reporters at the National Education Union conference in Brighton.

她是在布莱顿举行的全国教育联盟大会上接受记者采访的班主任之一。

They were highlighting the issues faced by an increasing number of children growing up in poverty, and how their experiences affect their education.

他们着重强调了当前面临的问题，即生长在贫困中的孩子数量正在不断增长，以及这些经历将如何影响孩子们的学业。

'Grubby clothes'

“脏衣服”

Lynn said that hunger was particularly apparent after the weekend.

琳说，在周末之后，饥饿问题变得尤其明显。

She said: "Children are filling their pockets with food. In some establishments that would be called stealing. We call it survival."

她说：“孩子们往他们衣兜里装吃的。有些机构管这种行为叫偷窃。我们称之为活下去。”

Another head teacher from Nottinghamshire, Louise Regan, said: "When you take children out to an event, maybe a sporting event, you see children of the same age from schools in an affluent area.

另一名来自诺丁汉郡的班主任路易斯·里根说：“有时候我们带孩子们参加活动，比如运动会，你会看到来自富裕地区学校的同龄孩子。”

"It's the grey skin, the pallor. It's the pallor you really notice."

“是那种灰色皮肤，惨白的。白得让你不得不注意。”

She went on: "Monday morning is the worst.

她继续说道：“星期一早晨是最糟糕的。”

"There are a number of families that we target that we know are going to be coming into school hungry.

“我们会注意一些家庭，我们知道这些家庭的孩子会饿着肚子上学。”

"By the time it's 9.30am they are tired."

“早上九点半他们就疲劳得不行。”


  
图片版权：GETTY IMAGES

She said her school supplied some pupils with clean uniforms, and that they often came back in the same clothes, grubby, after the weekend.

她说她们学校会为小学生提供干净的校服，但这些孩子会在周末之后穿着弄脏的校服来上学。

The school has a food bank which gives out food parcels and a supply of clothes, shoes and coats for those without.

学校设有食品银行，为困难学生提供救济食品、衣服和鞋子。

Poverty and neglect

贫困和忽视

Lynn said: "We have washing machines and we are washing the children's clothes while they do PE.

琳说：“我们学校有洗衣机，为上完体育课的学生洗衣服。”

"We wouldn't have it that these children are stigmatised because their clothes are dirty."

“要是我们没有洗衣机，学生们会因为穿着脏衣服而感到羞耻。”

The school also runs a summer school for three weeks over the holidays, run voluntarily by teaching staff without pay.

这所学校还在假期开设为期三周的暑期班，由教职员工自愿授课，不收报酬。

Howard Payne, a head at an inner city school in Portsmouth, said there had been a four-fold increase in the number of children with child protection issues.

朴茨茅斯一所内城学校的班主任霍华德·佩恩说，面临儿童保护问题的孩子数量增长了四倍。

"Every one of these issues has had something to do with the poverty that they live in," he said.

“每个孩子的问题都跟他们的贫困处境多少有些关系，”他说。

"It's neglect. It's because they and their families don't have enough money to provide food, heating or even bedding."

“这些问题被忽视了。因为这些孩子和他们的家庭没有足够的钱来买食品、燃料，甚至是床。“

Hot meals

热餐

Mr Payne, who provides debt-counselling and family support at his school, said: "Three weeks ago, many schools in our area closed because of the snow.

佩恩先生在他的学校提供贷款咨询和家庭支持服务。他说：“三周之前，我们地区的很多学校因为下雪而停课。“

"I kept ours open because I was really worried about the children - that they wouldn't have a hot meal to eat that day."

“我坚持让我们学校上课，因为我真的担心那些孩子——大冷天的他们可能都没有热饭吃。“

  

图片版权：GETTY IMAGES

He said about 45% of pupils came into the school to eat that day.

他说大约45%的学生在雪天来到学校吃饭。

All the heads said things were getting worse as social and emotional support services are disappearing.

所有的班主任都说问题正在变得更加严重，因为社会和情感的支持正在消失。

The comments came as the NEU published research it had carried out with the Child Poverty Action Group.

全国教育联盟出版了其与儿童贫困行动组织共同完成的研究报告，并引发了评论。

It found schools are increasingly stepping in to fill the poverty gap, with almost half of the 900 respondents saying their school offered one or more anti-poverty services such as a food bank, clothes bank and even offering emergency loans to families.

该研究报告发现，学校正在介入弥补贫穷的鸿沟，在900名应答者中有将近一半的人说他们的学校至少提供一项扶贫服务，比如设立食品银行、衣物银行，甚至为一些家庭提供紧急贷款。

'Proud families'

“骄傲的家庭“

More than four-fifths said they say saw signs of children being hungry during the day and about the same said they say children showing signs of poor health.

超过五分之四的班主任说他们发现有些孩子在校期间有饥饿表现，他们也发现有些孩子表现出健康不良的征兆。

Alison Garnham, chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, said: "With nine children in every classroom of 30 falling below the official poverty line, it is time to rebuild the safety net for struggling families."

儿童贫困行动组织的执行总裁埃里森·盖恩汉说：“每30名在教室里的孩子就有9名孩子的生活水平处于官方的贫困线以下，是时候为这些挣扎的家庭重建安全网了。”

Lynn added: "My families are proud. Some of these parents are working two or three jobs and can't access the benefits system.

琳也说：“我的家长们很骄傲。有些家长打两到三份工，不接受救济。”

"They are just a few pounds over - they have less money than those on benefits."

“他们手里只有几英镑——他们比接受救济的人更穷。”

Jane Jenkins, a head teacher from Cardiff, said children in her school often only brought a slice of bread and margarine for lunch and that teachers supplemented this.

简·詹金斯是来自卡迪夫的一名班主任，她说在她的学校，一些学生的自带午饭只有一片吐司面包和一点人造黄油，老师们会为学生提供一些午餐食品。

"It's really difficult and when people are asking you about standards, why we don't go up the league tables?

“这真的很困难，当有人问你标准是什么，为什么我们不提升学校排行榜的名次呢？”

"That's often a secondary consideration."

“这通常是次要考量。“

The Department for Education said it wanted to create a country where everyone could go as far as their talents could take them.

教育部称其致力于打造一个人尽其才的国家。

"That's why we launched our social mobility action plan, which sets out measures to close the attainment gap between disadvantaged students and their peers and targets areas that need the most support through the ￡72m Opportunity Areas programme."

“这就是我们启动社会流动性行动计划的原因，我们希望能够设立标准以弥补贫困儿童与其同龄人之间的成就差距，并将目标设定为那些最迫切需要这项7200万英镑的机会领域计划的地区。”

A spokesman also highlighted the ￡2.5bn it invests in disadvantaged pupils through the Pupil Premium and a recent ￡26m investment in breakfast clubs.

一名发言人也强调，教育部将通过小学生奖学金为贫困小学生提供25亿英镑的支持，近期还会有2600万英镑投入早餐俱乐部。