美千名学生控诉校警使用"化学武器"

A group of school pupils in Alabama is suing the local education authority for running a "polite state" in which officers are allegedly using "chemical weapons" to enforce discipline.

美国阿拉巴马州一间学校的学生们起诉当地教育部门，在美国这样一个高度文明的国家里，校内警务人员竟然使用"化学武器"执行纪律管理。

Seven students in Birmingham, Alabama, have filed a class action lawsuit against the city's education board and the local police force over the frequent use of mace, or pepper spray, in schools. The spray is readily used to "enforce basic school discipline", the lawsuit claims, and "school personnel not only watch, but sometimes even celebrate when schoolchildren are beaten".

7名阿拉巴马州（最大城市）伯明翰的学生对当地教育委员会和校内警务人员提起诉讼，理由是警务人员在学校里频繁使用权杖和胡椒喷雾等武器来"维持学校基础纪律"。这些学生控诉："学校工作人员不只是眼睁睁地看学生被权杖打，有事甚至还偷着乐或者庆祝。"

The city has police officers in every school under a scheme designed to ensure the safety of pupils, the lawsuit states. But "officers have abandoned their primary mission", allege the pupils.

诉讼称，伯明翰为了确保学生安全，在每个学校都安置了部分警务人员。但学生们声称，这些警务人员并没有从事他们该做的主要任务。

Teachers call them in to handle even "minor incidents of childish misbehavior", including pupils swearing, claim the pupils, who are aged between 16 and 19.

They are being represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the renowned civil rights group, and claim to have been "brutalized with chemical weapons and other excessive force". One boy claims that while he was in ninth grade - between 14 and 15 years old - he and others standing near a fight between two pupils were sprayed in the face by a police officer.

这些学生年龄介于16到19岁之间，他们称学校警务人员让他们处理一些"幼稚的小事"，包括学生的宣誓。目前著名的民权组织南方贫困法律中心 (Southern Poverty Law Center)答应帮助他们，并表示"警务人员在学校里过度使用武力及化学武器摧残学生。"一名男孩称，在九年级的时候，那时他大概是14或15岁，他曾和另外两名学生被罚站，期间一名警务人员往其中两名学生脸上喷胡椒喷雾。They list the potential damage to the eyes and throat that can be caused by frequent subjection to pepper spray, especially to pupils with health conditions such as asthma. The lawsuit, which is filed on behalf of the 8,000 pupils in Birmingham, seeks damages and demands officials "immediately abandon the use of chemical and other weapons" against schoolchildren.

这起诉讼由7名学生代表8000名在伯明翰就学的学生提出，他们称常有学生被往眼睛和喉咙喷胡椒喷雾，这会给学生带来潜在的健康损害，尤其损害患有哮喘的学生的健康。他们要求相关官员"立即停止对学生使用化学和其他武器"。

目前该学校董事会没有对此做出回应。