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Whenever I tell people I work at a middle school, they often lean back and suck their teeth.
每当我告诉人们我在一所中学工作，他们经常倒吸一口冷气。
It's like they're having a visceral reaction to the mere mention of those years, and it makes sense.
简直像是只要提到了那些年，他们就会产生应激反应，这是有道理的。
Middle school is a time like no other.
中学是一段与众不同的时光。
It's when significant biological, neurological and emotional changes are happening all at the same time.
中学是一段非常特别的时光，这是当生理、心理和情绪同时发生重大的变化的时候。
So how do middle schoolers respond to these changes?
那么中学生是如何应对这些变化的呢?
Well, some might ignore deodorant but overuse Axe body spray.
有些人可能会忽略除臭剂，却过度使用阿克斯身体喷雾。
You can find them holding up the walls during the school dance.
你会发现他们在学校舞会期间缩在角落里。
And there's usually a desire to be treated like an adult, but they can't quite let go of their action figures.
他们通常希望被当作成年人对待，但又不能完全放弃自己的手办。
You might imagine that it looks a little like this.
你可能会想象它看起来有点像这样。
This was me in sixth grade, and like many middle school students, I was earnest, I was goofy,
这是六年级的我，像许多中学生一样，我很认真，也很傻，
and I was just discovering who I wanted to be.
我才开始探索自己想成为什么样的人。
Now I had no idea that I'd go on to teach middle school.
我完全不知道我会去教中学。
They say the grade levels you teach are most reflective of your personality.
他们说你教的年级水平最能反映你的个性。
So I'm not quite sure what it says about me that I later went on to found a middle school for boys.
所以我不太确定对我来说它指什么，因为我后来又创办了一所男子中学。
But in all seriousness, it didn't take long as a teacher to realize that my male students were acting kind of strange.
但说真的，当老师没多久我就意识到我的男学生们表现得有点奇怪。
I remember there was this one year, we were doing a get-to-know-you activity
我记得有一年，我们在做一个“介绍自己”的活动，
where students would use old magazines to create collages representing who they were.
学生们用旧杂志来画拼贴画，代表他们是谁。
And many of the collages had all of the things that typical middle schoolers like:
许多拼贴画都有典型的中学生喜欢的东西:
the outdoors, sports, the latest fashion, the hottest shoes, you know, all the important stuff.
户外、运动、新潮时尚、最热门的鞋子，所有重要的东西。
However, there were some that were not exactly what I had in mind.
然而，有些内容并不完全符合我的想象。
A group of middle school boys created these collages that were comical, if not concerning.
一群中学生创作了这些有趣，但又有些令人担忧的拼贴画。
It was almost as if they had made templates of who they thought that they should be.
这几乎就像是他们做了自己认为应该成为的人的模板。
Girls in bikinis, fast cars, professional wrestlers, first-person shooter video games.
比基尼女郎，快车，职业摔跤手，第一人称射击游戏。
You get the idea.
你知道的。
One collage actually had to have had at least 25 different images of Kim Kardashian.
事实上，一幅拼贴画至少要有25张金·卡戴珊的不同照片。
And this wasn't an isolated incident.
这不是一个单独的事件。
Whether it was going down a somewhat sketchy YouTube rabbit hole
无论是进入一个感觉哪里都不太对的油管世界，
or mindlessly indulging in meme culture, which we know can get really hairy really fast,
还是盲目地沉迷于那些火得很快的梗文化，
I was noticing a pattern with my boys.
我开始注意到我的孩子们的一种模式
Instead of chalking it up as mindless activities or typical middle school behavior, I decided to investigate.
我并没有将其当作随意打闹或当作典型的中学行为，我决定进行调查。
I became a mentor for an afterschool program called My Brother's Keeper.
我成为了一个名为“兄弟守护者”的课后项目的导师。
And in this space, we could have more in-depth conversations.
在这个空间里，我们可以进行更深入的对话。
Inspired by the 2016 presidential debates, I asked this group of boys an age-old question:
受2016年总统辩论的启发，我问了这群男孩一个老生常谈的问题:
“Does absolute power corrupt absolutely?”
“绝对权力是否绝对腐败?”
Students began to discuss amongst themselves.
学生们开始互相讨论。
And then I asked, "Now what would you do if you had this kind of power?
然后我问，“如果你有这种能力，你会做什么?”
And what if it was unchecked?"
如果不加以制止呢?”
Students continued talking and then they shared out.
学生们继续交谈，然后分享。
Many of them said that they would use their power for good or even share it.
他们中的许多人说，他们会用自己的力量做好事，甚至分享它。
