And I'm Beth.

我叫貝絲

Can I ask you something, Beth? Beth? Hello, Beth. Are you listening?

我可以問你一件事，貝絲？貝絲？你好 貝絲你在聽嗎？

Oh, sorry, Neil. I was checking my Instagram and Facebook and just sending this email.

哦，對不起，尼爾。我正在看我的 Instagram 和 Facebook，剛發了這封郵件。

Done. OK, what did you want?

搞定了好吧，你想要什麼？

Well, I wanted to ask if you're getting addicted to your smartphone, but clearly the answer is yes.

我想問的是，你是否對智能手機上癮了，但答案顯然是肯定的。

Actually, Neil, I am worried about my smartphone use. And it's not just me. Concerns are growing about the negative effect smartphones are having on adults and even more on children.

事實上，尼爾，我很擔心我對智能手機的使用。不只是我。人們越來越擔心智能手機對成年人的負面影響，對兒童的影響更大。

Studies show that girls who spend more time on social media are more likely to be anxious or depressed. And smartphones have also been linked to delayed brain development and poor sleep.

研究表明，花更多時間在社交媒體上的女孩更容易焦慮或抑鬱。智能手機還與大腦發育遲緩和睡眠品質差有關。

Even so, around 60% of British 8 to 11-year-olds have a smartphone. So in this programme, we'll be asking, are kids better off without a phone? And of course, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary too.

即便如此，約有 60% 的英國 8-11 歲兒童擁有智能手機。是以，在本節目中，我們會問，孩子們沒有手機會更好嗎？當然，我們還將學習一些有用的新詞彙。

But first, put your phone away, Beth, because I have a question for you. The US has one of the highest levels of smartphone use, but according to a recent survey, how long does the average American 11 to 14-year-old spend looking at a screen every day? Is it… a – 5 hours, b – 7 hours, or c – 9 hours?

但首先，把你的手機收起來，貝絲，因為我有個問題要問你。美國是智能手機使用率最高的國家之一，但根據最近的一項調查，美國 11 至 14 歲的孩子平均每天花多長時間看螢幕？是...... a - 5 小時，b - 7 小時，還是 c - 9 小時？

I'll guess American teens spend 5 hours a day on screens.

我猜美國青少年每天花 5 個小時在螢幕上。

OK, Beth, I'll reveal the answer later in the programme. BBC journalist Myra Anubi has a 9-year-old daughter who desperately wants her own phone. But Myra isn't convinced.

好的，貝絲，我稍後會在節目中揭曉答案。BBC 記者邁拉-阿努比（Myra Anubi）有一個 9 歲的女兒，她非常想要一部自己的手機。但邁拉並不相信。

So she explained to BBC World Service programme, People Fixing the World.

她在英國廣播公司世界服務節目《修復世界的人們》中這樣解釋道。

I'm worried about how much time she'll spend on her own device and what she might even see there. I mean, she's only 9 at the end of the day. But at the same time,

我擔心她會花多少時間在自己的設備上，甚至會看到什麼。說到底，她才 9 歲。但同時

I don't want her to feel left out because some of her friends already have smartphones and there's a chance that she'll miss out on playdates or kids' trends, cat videos or online chats with her besties. So I'm torn between wanting her to be in our world and also letting her be in her own mini-world with her friends.

我不想讓她感到被冷落，因為她的一些朋友已經有了智能手機，這樣她就有可能錯過與好朋友的玩伴聚會、兒童潮流、貓咪視頻或在線哈拉。所以我很糾結，既想讓她在我們的世界裡，又想讓她和朋友們在自己的迷你世界裡。

Myra is worried about her daughter and says at the end of the day she's only 9. Myra uses the phrase at the end of the day to mean after everything is considered.

邁拉很擔心自己的女兒，她說說到底她才 9 歲。邁拉用 "一天結束時 "這個短語的意思是在考慮了所有事情之後。

Myra's daughter wants to chat with her besties, her best friends. But Myra worries she'll get hooked on social media, see harmful content or spend too long online. Myra is torn between letting her daughter get a phone and not. If you're torn between two things, you can't decide between two possibilities, leaving you feeling anxious.

邁拉的女兒想和她最好的朋友哈拉。但邁拉擔心她會迷上社交媒體，看到有害的內容或上網時間過長。邁拉在讓女兒買手機和不讓她買手機之間猶豫不決。如果你在兩件事之間糾結，你就無法在兩種可能性之間做出決定，從而感到焦慮。

Parents like Myra are having to make an impossible choice – either give their children potentially harmful devices or risk alienating them from their friends who do have smartphones.

像邁拉這樣的家長不得不做出一個不可能的選擇--要麼給孩子使用可能有害的設備，要麼冒著讓孩子與擁有智能手機的朋友疏遠的風險。

In February 2024, mums Daisy Greenwell and Claire Furniho started a WhatsApp group encouraging parents to not give their child a smartphone until the age of 14, with no social media access until 16. Soon the phone-free group of families grew into a movement – Smartphone

2024 年 2 月，媽媽黛西-格林威爾（Daisy Greenwell）和克萊爾-弗尼霍（Claire Furniho）建立了一個 WhatsApp 群組，鼓勵父母在孩子 14 歲之前不給孩子使用智能手機，16 歲之前不允許使用社交媒體。很快，這個無手機家庭群就發展成了一場運動--智能手機運動。

Free Childhood. Here mum Daisy Greenwell explains more to BBC World Service's People Fixing the World…

自由童年。在這裡，媽媽黛西-格林威爾（Daisy Greenwell）向 BBC 世界廣播公司的 "修復世界的人們"（People Fixing the World）介紹了更多情況...

Everyone I spoke to said, yes, it's a nightmare getting your child a phone, but you've got no choice, you have to, because everyone else is doing it, you can't leave them on their own. So Claire and I decided to start a WhatsApp group to support each other and I posted about it on social media and it went viral. The group was full, so we encouraged people, start one in your region, in your county, and they sprung up all over the country, right in front of our eyes. It was amazing. And now there's over 100,000 people in the UK who are in our community.

我接觸過的每個人都說，是的，給孩子買手機是一場噩夢，但你別無選擇，你必須這麼做，因為其他人都在這麼做，你不能讓他們自己一個人。是以，克萊爾和我決定建立一個 WhatsApp 群組來相互支持。群裡的人都滿了，於是我們鼓勵大家，在你所在的地區、你所在的縣建立一個群。這太不可思議了。現在，英國有超過 10 萬人加入了我們的社區。

At the start, Daisy says it was a nightmare – a very unpleasant situation. Everyone else's kids had a phone and Daisy didn't want her children to feel left out. But soon more families got involved and the group went viral. It spread quickly and widely on the internet and social media.

一開始，黛西說這簡直是一場噩夢--情況非常糟糕。其他人的孩子都有手機，黛西不想讓自己的孩子感到被冷落。但很快就有更多的家庭參與進來，這個小組也隨之火了起來。它在互聯網和社交媒體上迅速而廣泛地傳播開來。

Within months, new groups started up across Britain, right in front of Daisy's eyes.

幾個月內，新的團體在英國各地紛紛成立，就在黛西的眼前。

If you say something happens right in front of your eyes, you're emphasising that something surprising or unusual happened directly before you.

如果你說某件事情就發生在你眼前，你就在強調某件令人驚訝或不尋常的事情就發生在你眼前。

The Smartphone Free Childhood campaign has grown rapidly in schools and there are now groups in 18 countries around the world, offering kids a circle of friends to play and chat with in the old-fashioned way – face-to-face. OK, why don't you reveal the answer to your question, Neil?

無智能手機童年 "活動在學校中發展迅速，目前已在全球 18 個國家建立了小組，為孩子們提供了一個朋友圈，讓他們以老式的方式--面對面--玩耍和哈拉。好了，尼爾，你為什麼不說出問題的答案呢？

Yes, I asked how long the average American teenager spends looking at a screen and you guessed five hours a day, which was the wrong answer, I'm afraid, Beth. It's actually even longer – around nine hours a day spent on screens.

是的，我問過美國青少年平均每天花多長時間看螢幕，你猜是每天5小時，恐怕這個答案是錯誤的，貝絲。實際上，每天花在螢幕上的時間更長，大約有九個小時。

OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned in this programme, starting with the phrase – at the end of the day – meaning after all the relevant facts have been considered.

好了，讓我們回顧一下我們在本節目中學到的詞彙，首先是 "at the end of the day"，意思是在考慮了所有相關事實之後。

Your bestie is slang for your best friend.

Your bestie 是俚語，指你最好的朋友。

Someone who's torn between two things finds it difficult to choose between them, making them feel anxious.

在兩件事之間糾結的人很難做出選擇，這讓他們感到焦慮。

A nightmare is a very unpleasant experience or event.

噩夢是一種非常不愉快的經歷或事件。

If a video or story goes viral, it spreads quickly on the internet through social media and email.

如果一段視頻或一個故事成為病毒，它就會通過社交媒體和電子郵件在互聯網上迅速傳播。

And finally, if you say something happened right in front of your eyes, you're emphasising that something surprising or unusual happened directly before you.

最後，如果你說某件事情就發生在你眼前，你就在強調某件令人驚訝或不尋常的事情就發生在你眼前。

Once again, our six minutes are up. Goodbye for now!

我們的六分鐘時間又到了。再見

Bye.

再見。