首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Flirt With Suicide The life of David Woods was the stuff of an Australian boy’s dream. He played professional rugby league f
Flirt With Suicide The life of David Woods was the stuff of an Australian boy’s dream. He played professional rugby league f
admin
2013-01-22
46
问题
Flirt With Suicide
The life of David Woods was the stuff of an Australian boy’s dream. He played professional rugby league football in a country that treats athletes as, idols. At 29, he had a loving family, a girlfriend, a 3-month-old baby, plenty of money, everything to live for. And for inexplicable reasons, nothing to live for. On New Year’s Eve, Woods called his mother to announce that he had signed a new contract with his team, Golden Coast, recalls his elder brother, Tony. The next morning, he ran a hose from the exhaust pipe to the window of his Mitsubishi sedan (轿车) and gasses himself. His family still has no idea why.
The death of David Woods came as a wake-up call to Australia, which is often voted as the ideal place to bring up kids. But the sun, the beaches and the sporting culture are the cheery backdrop to a disturbing trend: young Australian men are now killing themselves at the rate of one a day--triple the rate of 30 years ago. Though most Australians aren’t particularly suicidal, their boys are. In 1990 suicide surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of death among males aged 15 to 24. Fun-loving Australia is now far worse off than Asian nations known for strict discipline. The yearly suicide rate for young Australian males is 2.5 times higher than in Japan, Hong Kong, or Singapore.
Possible Causes for Suicide
Why boys? A nation of wide-open spaces and rugged individualism, Australia still idolizes the film star Gary Cooper model of masculinity: the strong, silent type who never complains, who always gets the job done. In recent years schools and social institutions have concentrated on creating new opportunities for equality for girls--while leaving troubled boys with the classic command of the Australian father: pull yourself together. It’s past time to take a much closer look at the lives of young men, some researchers argue. "People think, ’My kids aren’t doing drugs, my kids are safe at home’," says psychiatrist John Tiller of Melbourne University, who studied 148 suicides and 206 attempts in the state of Victoria. "They are wrong."
The Haywards, a comfortably well-off family in Wyong, north of Sydney, figured they were dealing with the normal problems of troubled teenhood. Their son Mark had put up a poster of rock star Kurt Cobain, a 1994 suicide victim, along with a Cobain quote: "I hate myself and I want to die." "From the age of 12, Mark had his ups and downs--mood swings, depression and low self-esteem," says his father. The Haywards sent Mark to various counselors, none of whom warned that he had suicidal tendencies. By last year Mark was 19, fighting bouts (回合) of unemployment and a drug problem. He tried church, struggling to do the right thing. Last September he dropped out a detoxification (戒毒) program, and apologized to his parents. "I’ve let you down again." A few days later, his mother found Mark’s body in bush-land near their home.
In retrospect, Mark Hayward’s struggles were far from uncommon. The number of suicides tends to keep pace with the unemployment rate, which for Australians between 15 and 19 has risen from 19 percent in 1978, the first year data were collected, to 28 percent last year. Suicide is especially high among the most marginal: young Aboriginal (土著的) men, isolated by poverty, alcoholism and racism. As in other developed countries, Australian families have grown less cohesive in recent years, putting young men out into the world at an earlier age. Those who kill themselves often think "it’ll make it easier for the parents by not being there".
The deeper mystery is why the universal anguish of growing up should have such particularly devastating effects in Australia. One answer is that the country allows easier access to guns than most other developed Asian countries. (One exception is neighboring New Zealand, where guns are as easy to find, and the suicide rate among young people is worse.) Australian boys tend to end their lives violently by shooting or hanging. Girls, by contrast, often take an overdose of drugs, and are more ofen rescued.
Efforts to Tackle Suicide Problem
Educators now hope to teach adults to recognize youths troubled by suicidal depression. That is no easy task in a society that generally avoids introspection (反省). "Good services do exist in Australia," says child psychiatrist Marie Bashir, but "the Australian philosophy is: pull your socks up. Get but and play some sports."
To get Australia’s attention, psychiatrist Tiller wants the government to sponsor a shock advertising campaign, similar to one that portrays the pain and guilt felt by survivors in drunk-driving accidents. The ads should make people aware of the threat, and urge them to get help for young people at risk.
The rising death toll has just begun to force suicide onto the nation’s political agenda. Suicide now takes more lives than murder or AIDS. Brendan Nelson, a physician and backbencher in Parliament, recently called for the creation of a National Office for Young People to report to the prime minister on youth concerns. Slowly, Australians are overcoming the old fear of talking openly about a problem that has long been considered taboo. "We have one young person every day ending his life and possibly another four who are not reported as suicides but are killing themselves," says Clyde Begg of the Australian Community Research Organization. "Now, if we don’t talk about that, we are neglecting our duties."
Tony Woods is talking now, but he wasn’t always. The brother of the football player who gassed himself to death, Woods says he tried to take his own life at the age of 17 by slashing his wrists with a carving knife after breaking up with a girlfriend. Woods has made it his own mission to warn other boys that they may find themselves on the same dangerous path taken by his brother, David. Among other things, he plans to bring professional football players into schools to urge boys to seek counseling for their personal problems. "Boys can’t communicate what they feel," says Woods. "They are socialized to be hard, tough, independent men who don’t show their feelings. We need to tell them: You’re worthwhile. Seek help... We need to teach boys to express themselves. We need to pick them up at 5 years old to prevent a problem in 15 years." It is the kind of simple advice, Tony Woods now believes, that his brother never heard.
David Wood’s rugby league football career was cut short by suicide on a New Year’s Day.
选项
A、Y
B、N
C、NG
答案
A
解析
根据第1段可知:Woods是澳大利亚职业橄榄球队员。在新年前夜,他给母亲打电话说自己又与球队签了份合同;可第二天早上他却用一根软管插在汽车排气管上通过车窗连接到他的三菱轿车内,导致废气中毒而死。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/uhI7777K
0
大学英语六级
相关试题推荐
Bloggingisapastimeformany,evenalivelihoodforafew.Forsome,itbecomesan【36】Suchbloggersoftenfeelcompelledtowr
A、Hemighthelpthewomanmuch.B、Thewomanshouldn’tbuyausedcar.C、Hedoesn’tknowalotaboutnewcars.D、Thewomanisab
Dogswerefirstdomesticatedfromwolvesatleast17,000yearsago,butperhapsasearlyas150,000yearsagobaseduponrecent
A、Focusonthepersonwhositsinthemiddle.B、Giveequaltimetomakeeyecontactwitheveryinterviewer.C、Focusonthequest
A、Theclassroomwasunderconstruction.B、Hecouldn’tfocusontheclassduetothenoise.C、Hefeltthathisstudyingwasnote
Scotlandisauniqueplace.IthassomeofthemostbeautifulcitiesinEurope,alivingevidenceofasplendidandproudpast.
WhytheEarth’ssurfacetemperaturehasn’twarmedasexpectedoverthepastdecadecontinuestobeapuzzleforscientists.One
Althoughclichés(陈词滥调)aboutthe"vulnerability"ofwomenintheeconomyhavebeendisprovedbyhardBureauofLaborStatistics
Leadershipisthemostsignificantwordintoday’scompetitivebusinessenvironmentbecauseitdirectsthemanagerofabusiness
Whiletheworld’sflufightershaveconcentratedoncounteringtheH1N1swineflu,birdfluH5N1hasquietlycontinuedtotakei
随机试题
Thetaxidriverwasamaninhislatethirties.Hepickedmeupand【C1】________metomyplace.Iusuallyliketohavebrief【C2】_
甲公司是一家生产榨汁机的民营企业,成立于2010年。企业成立之初就将“让物美价廉的榨汁机进入百姓厨房”作为企业的愿景,让普通居民养成喝新鲜蔬果汁的意识,摆脱喝不健康饮料的习惯。但是由于渣汁分离操作不便、难以清洗以及营养挥发等原因,榨汁机上市初期的市场认可度
“年出生人数/年平均人口数”称为()
A、磺胺类药+甲氧苄啶B、棒酸+阿莫西林C、依那普利+利尿药D、亚胺培南+西拉司丁E、氟尿嘧啶+醛氢叶酸增加药物与TMPs酶结合,使抗癌效果增强的是
患者.男性,25岁,患支气管扩张症,咯血约200ml后突然中断,呼吸极度困难,喉部有痰鸣音,表情恐惧。张口瞠目,首选的处理是()。
下列公式中,()为贸易货物影子价格计算公式。
陶行知“捧着一颗心来.不带半根草去”的教育信条体现了教师的()素养。
下雨的时候,闪电一过,接着就要打雷,对这种现象正确的解释是()。
从以下句子中,任选一到两句,根据自己的理解,联系现实或个人实际进行写作。800字以上,体裁不限(诗歌、戏剧除外),题目自拟。1.书到用时方恨少,事非经过不知难。(清-郭小亭:《济公传》)2.物极则反,数穷则变。(北宋-欧阳修:《本论下》
Cutoffbythestorm,theywereforcedto______foodforseveral.
最新回复
(
0
)