VOA慢速英语2017 美国和日本过半的青少年沉迷于智能手机

Half of Teenagers in US and Japan ‘Addicted 1’ to Smartphones

About half of teenagers in the United States and Japan say they are “addicted” to their smartphones.

美国和日本大约有一半的青少年自称对智能手机“上瘾”。

To be addicted means an individual is unable to stop doing something -- in this case, using the telephones.

上瘾意味着个人无法停止做某事。在这个例子中指的是使用手机。

University of Southern California, or USC researchers asked 1,200 Japanese about their use of electronic devices. The researchers are with the Walter Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism 2. Their findings were compared with an earlier study on digital media use among families in North America.

南加州大学的研究人员调查了1200名日本人使用电子设备的情况。这些研究人员任职于南加州大学安内伯格传播与新闻学院。他们的研究结果被拿出来跟一项关于北美家庭数字媒体使用的早期调查进行了比较。

Willow 3 Bay is head of the Annenberg School. She said, “Advances in digital media and mobile devices are changing the way we engage not only with the world around us, but also with the people who are the closest to us.”

威罗·贝伊(Willow Bay)是安内伯格传播与新闻学院的院长。她说：“数字媒体和移动设备的进步正在改变我们的交流方式，不仅是跟周遭世界，还包括跟我们最亲近的人。”

James Steyer is founder 4 of Common Sense Media, an organization which helped with the study.

詹姆斯·斯泰尔（James Steyer）是协助进行了这项调查的常识传媒公司的创始人。

He said, “This is a really big deal. Just think about it, 10 years ago we didn’t even have smart phones.”

他说：“这是一项巨变。你想想，10年前我们甚至还没有智能手机。”

Among the findings in the USC report: 50 percent of American teenagers and 45 percent of Japanese teens feel addicted to their mobile phones.

在南加州大学的调查结果中：50%的美国青少年和45%的日本青少年沉迷于手机。

Sixty-one percent of Japanese parents believe their children are addicted to the devices. That compares to 59 percent of the American parents who were asked.

61%的日本家长认为他们的孩子沉迷于这类设备。与此相比，被调查到的美国家长中大约有59%这样认为。

Also, more than one in three Japanese parents feel they have grown dependent on electronic devices, compared to about one in four American parents.

此外，超过1/3的日本家长认为他们对电子设备已经产生了依赖，与此相比，有1/4的美国家长这样认为。

Leaving your phone at home is ‘one of the worst things’

手机落在家里是“最糟糕的事情之一”

“Nowadays, one of the worst things that can happen to us is, like, oh, I left my phone at home,” said Alissa Caldwell, a student at the American School in Tokyo. She spoke 5 at the USC Global Conference 2017, which was held in Tokyo.

东京美国学校学生阿里莎·卡德维尔（Alissa Caldwell）说：“这年头，我们遇到的最糟糕的事情之一就是把手机落在了家里。”她在东京举办的2017年南加州大学全球大会上作了发言。

A majority of Japanese and American parents said their teenagers used mobile devices too much. But only 17 percent of Japanese teens agreed that they use their devices too much. In the United States, 52 percent of teens said they are spending too much time on mobile devices.

大多数日本和美国家长称孩子们过多使用手机。但是只有17%的日本青少年认同他们过多使用手机。在美国，52%的青少年表示，他们花费太多时间在移动设备上。

Many respond immediately to messages

很多人秒回信息

About seven-in-10 American teens said they felt a need to react quickly to mobile messages, compared to about half of Japanese teens.

大约70%的美国青少年表示，他们认为有必要立即回复手机信息。与此相比有近一半的日本青少年这样认为。

In Japan, 38 percent of parents and 48 percent of teens look at and use their devices at least once an hour. In the United States, 69 percent of parents and 78 percent of teens say they use their devices every hour.

在日本，38%的家长和48%的青少年每小时至少查看或使用一次手机。在美国，69%的家长和78%的青少年表示，他们每小时都在使用手机。

Naturally, that hourly usage 6 stops when people are sleeping, the researchers said.

研究人员表示，当然，人们睡觉时不会使用手机。

The devices are a greater cause of conflict among teens and parents in the United States than in Japan. One in three U.S. families reported having an argument every day about mobile device use. Only about one in six Japanese families say they fight every day over mobile devices.

手机是美日两国家长和孩子之间产生冲突的一大重要原因。1/3的美国家庭报告称，每天都在争论手机设备的使用。只有1/6的日本家庭表示他们每天都会因为移动设备争吵。

Care more about devices than your children?

家长关心手机多于孩子？

But 20 percent of Japanese teens said they sometimes feel that their parents think their mobile device is more important than they are. The percentage of U.S. teens saying they feel this way is six percent.

但是20%的日本青少年表示，他们有时候觉得父母认为手机比孩子更重要。而这样认为的美国青少年是6%。

In the United States, 15 percent of parents say their teens’ use of mobile devices worsens the family’s personal relationships. Eleven percent of teens feel their parents’ use of mobile devices is not good for their relationship.

在美国，15%的家长表示，孩子使用手机恶化了家里的人际关系。11%的青少年则认为，父母使用手机不利于他们的家庭关系。

The USC research was based on an April 2017 study of 600 Japanese parents and 600 Japanese teenagers. Opinions from American parents and teenagers were collected in a study done earlier by Common Sense Media.

南加州大学这项研究是基于2017年4月份对600名日本家长和600名日本青少年的调查。美国家长和青少年的观点则是从常识传媒公司之前进行的一项调查中整理出来的。

Willow Bay, the Annenberg School of Communications dean 7, said the research raises critical questions about the effect of digital devices on family life.

安内伯格传媒学院院长贝伊表示，这项研究提出了数字设备对家庭生活影响的一些关键问题。

She said the cultural effects may differ from country to country, but “this is clearly a global issue.”

她说，文化影响可能因国而异，但是“这显然是一项全球性的问题。”

I’m Bruce Alpert.

And I'm Jill Robbins.

Words in This Story

smartphone – n. a telephone with computer software programs

digital - adj. using or characterized 8 by computer technology

advance - v. to move forward

engage - v. to do something

mobile – adj. something with the ability to be moved; changeable