背景介绍：
青少年作为一个身体和认知都在快速成长的阶段，很容易会在面临困难或低谷时进行一些自残行为。据一项研究发现，美国有超过20％的成年人在自己青少年阶段有过自残行为。然而，如今随着互联网的发展，一种新形式的网络自残行为正在悄然出现。
Why more young Americans are cyber-bullying themselves为什么越来越多的美国年轻人会在网上骂自己
On a friday night in 2016, Natalie Natividad, a 15-year-old in Hebbronville, Texas, took a fatal overdose of pills after enduring months of cyber-bullying. Most of the alleged taunts—that she was ugly, that she should kill herself—came on After School, an app that allows classmates to discuss one another anonymously. 在2016年一个周五的晚上，得克萨斯州希伯伦维尔的15岁女孩娜塔莉·纳蒂维达在经历了数月的网络欺凌后，服用了足以致命的过量药丸。大多数针对她的所谓的欺凌（有人说她长得太丑，应该去死）都来自于一款名为“放学后”的可以让同学们进行匿名聊天的应用程序。
Her suicide prompted an investigation. The app’s operators tracked which accounts had sent the abuse, while officials interviewed teachers and students. “We just want some justice,” said Natalie’s sister shortly after the death. “Whoever is bullying, I hope that they stop.”
她的自杀引发了人们的调查。该应用程序的运营商对发送辱骂信息的账户进行了追查，同时警方也对她的老师和同学进行了问询。在娜塔莉死后不久，她的姐姐说道：“我们只是想寻求正义，不管是谁在欺负人，我希望他们能够能够停手。”
There were no bullies to find. The inquiry revealed that Natalie had secretly sent the abusive messages to herself. Such anonymous “digital self-harm”, as researchers call it, is increasingly common.
实际上，并没有什么恶霸。调查显示，娜塔莉曾匿名发送辱骂自己的信息。正如研究人员所说，这种匿名的“网络自我欺凌”行为越来越普遍了。
A study in 2019 found that nearly 9% of American adolescents have done it, up from around 6% in a previous study from 2016, according to an author of both studies, Sameer Hinduja, director of the Cyberbullying Research Centre and professor of criminology at Florida Atlantic University.
据两项研究的作者、网络欺凌研究中心主任、佛罗里达亚特兰大大学犯罪学教授萨迈尔·欣杜贾称，2019年的一项研究发现，近9％的美国青少年有过这样的行为，高于2016年之前一项研究所发现的近6％。
Despite these numbers—and the fact that teenagers in 2020 spend much of their lives online—“People are uniformly shocked to learn that this problem exists,” says Justin Patchin, another director of the centre and professor of criminal justice at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
该中心的另一位主任、威斯康星大学奥克莱尔分校刑事司法教授贾斯汀·帕钦说：“尽管有这些数字以及青少年在2020年将花更多的时间上网的事实为证，但当人们得知这一问题的存在时，他们还是会感到震惊。”
Why do it? Ana, a 20-year-old from Alabama, says she wanted to see if someone would stick up for her. At 14, she anonymously posted insults about her appearance to Ask.fm, a public question-and-answer site.
她们为什么要这么做？来自阿拉巴马州、现年20岁的安娜说，她想看看有没有人会支持她。在她14岁那年，她在公共问答网站 Ask.fm 上匿名发布了有关自己相貌的侮辱性的言论。
Then she waited for other people to defend her. Her motivations, to express self-loathing and to get a reaction, are some of the most common among children who abuse themselves online.
然后她就等待着其他人站出来为她辩护。在网上进行自我欺凌的孩子中，最常见的动机就是像她这样通过自我表达厌恶来获得他人的回应。
About a third say digital self-harm achieved what they had hoped for. Riel, a university student in Georgia, says it was a useful way to counter other online abuse. As a 15-year-old, he created funny tweets that got him more followers but also more hate mail. Strangers started sending him homophobic taunts.
有近三分之一的人表示，网络自我欺凌达到了他们所期望的效果。乔治亚州的大学生瑞尔说，这是一种能够有效对抗其他网络欺凌的方式。在他15岁那年，他在推特上创作的一些有趣的推文让他获得了许多的粉丝，但也让他收到了许多具有攻击性的邮件。一些素未相识的人讥笑他是同性恋。
At first, Riel deleted the messages, but that made him feel anxious. So he decided to imitatehis tormentors, anonymously posting hateful comments about himself online. Others sent him kind responses, which he says “helped overshadow the actual negative, and sometimes vulgar” insults he had received.
起初，瑞尔只是删除了这些邮件，但这还是让他倍感焦虑。因此，他决定模仿那些折磨他的人，在网上对自己匿名发布一些辱骂的言论。随后一些人给他发来了友善的回应，他说，“这些回应帮忙掩盖了他所收到的真正的负面（有时甚至是粗俗的）信息”。
As a technological matter, identifying digital self-harm is relatively easy. Usually this involves finding the computer or account that created the harmful material. The harder part is what to do after that, says Mr Patchin. Social-media platforms might consider directing known self-cyber-bullies to counselling services.
从技术上来看，想要识别出网络自我欺凌行为相对比较容易。通常只需要找到发送恶意信息的电脑或账户即可。帕钦说，困难之处在于之后该怎么做。社交媒体平台可能会考虑将那些网络自我欺凌者引导至咨询服务机构。
Tumblr, a blogging website, already posts helpline numbers next to anorexia-related search results. Teachers and parents could treat digital self-harm as an indication of other underlying problems. The worst response, according to Ms Englander, would be to dismiss evidence of bullying because it might be faked.
博客网站汤博乐会在厌食症相关的搜索结果旁附上帮扶热线的电话。老师和家长应该将网络自我欺凌视为孩子存在其他潜在问题的迹象。英格兰德表示，我们不能因为欺凌的证据可能是伪造的而选择对其无视，这是最错误的做法。
“Any time a kid claims they’re being bullied, they’re struggling with something,” she says. For many, the source of that something is not an external tormentor, but one within.
她说：“当任何一个孩子声称自己受欺负时，他们一定在为某事而苦苦挣扎。”对于许多人来说，其根源不一定是来自于外部，或许是来自于自己内心的折磨。
(绿色标注词为重难点词汇)
小编说
相信许多人在第一次听到“网络自我欺凌”时一定会感到惊讶，原来除了被别人黑，许多人还会“自黑”。一项最新的研究发现，近9％的美国青少年有过网络自我欺凌行为。他们之所以这么做通常是为了能够得到他人的回应，而他们的自我攻击行为看似荒唐，实则反映了他们内心深处对于他人支持的渴望。
重难点词汇：
anonymously [əˈnɑːnɪməsli] adv. 不具名地；化名地
bully [ˈbʊli] n. 欺凌弱小者；土霸 vt. 欺负；威吓
imitate [ˈɪmɪteɪt] vt. 模仿，仿效；仿造，仿制
tormentor [tɔːrˈmentər] n. 使苦恼的东西；使苦痛的人
overshadow [ˌoʊvərˈʃædoʊ] v. 使失色；使蒙上阴影；遮阴
homophobia taunts同性恋恐惧症
phobia 恐惧症
tormentors 令人折磨的事物
post hateful/disgusting comments 发布令人厌恶的评论
vulgar response 粗俗的回应
conselling service 咨询服务机构
any time 任何时候
loathe 厌恶
torment折磨
