Buthan

By Èlia Ramoneda and Guzel Nasibullina

Buthan is a country where the wealth is measured bu the happyness of its inhabitants.

Buthan is in the South of China and in the West of Nepal. It is a very peaceful country. For example, Buthan was the first country in the world to ban the tobacco and it's a very happy country because everyone accepts each other and helps each other when someone needs help. It's a very united country. Everyone accepts the other religions but the predominant is the budism. In 2007 they started to have politic elections. In Buthan they didn't have telephone and coins until 1960. And Internet and TV arrived in 1999. Buthan has a little more than 700.000 inhabitants and most of them are 61 years old. Buthan is the place that we have always dreamt.

The new generation of school books

By Xènia Nogué

The new computers for the students of 1st and 2nd E.S.O. is a real polemic. Somebody says that it's good for them because they can learn to use a computer and they don't have to carry with books every day and everywhere.

However, I think that it is stupid because the most of the students on this age know how to use a computer and they have to carry with the portable computer and, furthermore, with some books. On top of that they can buy the books for the computer for only 30€ but I think that for this cost the quality will probably be low.

In general I think that these computers are bad for the student's health because they are all day sitting on a chair in front of the computer, thing that I think is bad for their eyes and backs.

Maybe there is something good on this but I can't find it. Maybe it's true that the students don't have to carry so much as before, but between books and computers they carry so much.

I think that to work with computers is a good thing but there is something that is tought bad. If the students can go on Internet always they want they aren't studying. They are playing games online all the day and it isn't good for their learning process.

For me, it doesn't matter if they want to play instead of study. But then, all the politicians say that learning process in Spain is very bad and they try to fix it now but not for the best way, in my opinion. They can put computers for all the students but blok the internet or simply only Facebook and the games online.

Reality shows

By Laia Esquerrà

Are other people’s lives so interesting that TV programmes should be made about them? The answer is obviously yes. We all have this curiosity in us – some more and some less but we all do – and, as almost always, on TV the most eccentric person wins. These programmes are not actually very interesting but they capture our attention. We can sit there watching absolutely nothing and still not change the channel. We can get sick about it but somehow there's nothing better on. So, the question would be: WHY? Why are other people’s lives more interesting than ours? What do they have that we don't?

My answer: NOTHING. Reality shows are just a distraction. Most people do not want to accept their mistakes and their bad luck so other people’s miseries are the best remedy. First, people watch them on TV but after that they want to be there and shout at them, too. That's very shameful and immoral.

Reality shows seem to constitute a very wide-ranging TV genre because they are divided into many different subgenres: survival shows, arts shows, celebrities, modelling, sports, job search, self-improvement/renovation, hidden cameras, competition... but they are all the same.

Reality shows are about fighting with other people, the reason does not matter. Everyone who gets on them does it to become famous. Everyone wants to be a celebrity. What does that show about the society we live in? All the moral values and rights our relatives fought for now seem to be of no value to us – we are throwing them all away. We are a heavily controlled society that craves for money and exhibitionism.

I think we're losing our values and the taste for good programmes and films, and that is a shame.

A day without internet

By Xènia Nogué

What would happen if one day there was no Internet? In the 1st and 2nd ESO classrooms there are computers that students use to work on all their subjects. What is more, they need the Internet to read their virtual books.

So if one day the Internet does not work, these students cannot do anything. And they do not have books with which to do something different, so they do not study.

I think that this is the problem: they cannot do their class if there is no Internet. So, the question is: what do they do when they haven't got Internet? They talk, or play various games. I think this is not good for them. It is true that teachers must have another plan for these situations but it almost never works.

Ultimately, I think that it is another problem derived from working with computers and the Internet.

Foreign languages: important or a waste of time?

By Victoria Englert and Laia Esquerrà

Many people think that learning a language isn’t worth the time spent but it all depends on the country you come from. In Spain people are not interested in learning many languages; they do fine just speaking Spanish. English people think the same way, as do Italians. In central Europe children start studying foreign languages at a very young age and thus acquire the habit of learning languages and taking them into account. They are also known for taking part in exchanges and showing interest in other cultures.

Languages help one to develop as a person. A knowledge and consideration of different cultures helps one to be open-minded when it comes to thinking and taking decisions. One has not one, but various traditions to draw on, while one can communicate better with other people and make friends from many different countries.

People who deny themselves the luxury of learning all these things are usually people who speak a major language, for example: Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, English, Portuguese...

We think languages are important and not a waste of time. It is true that people who have not been interested in languages for many generations now have greater problems because they are not used to them, but they are a great investement.

How important is technology for us today ?

By Leon Buengel

Ipod, mobile phones, Playstation 3, television, Mac Book. These are things that are commonplace in our society. We don't go out without our music. We call our friends to meet up with them. But what would happen if there were no electronic gadgets?

The whole world would be dark, because even our light is electronic. The world of finances would be smashed in less than half a day because it would be impossible to know the sate of stocks and the like in other countries. Traffic lights would not work and there would be many accidents. We would not be able to call a friend to meet up. In our world we NEED electricity – it is necessary for our everyday life – but the idea that people need electronics deserves consideration. How did it come about that life has become impossible without an iPod or mobile phones?

I think the problem is that all this kind of stuff is a luxury. Everyone wants to be different, everyone wants to be connected to the world - so we need the Internet and computers.

We, as the new generation, have another problem. Our problem is that we have to be cool. For example, it is cool to have the new BlackBerry Bold or the new iPod Touch or the new Mac Book Light. These things are not necessary, but we use them to be cool, to be included in a group of people. This is the reason why we cannot live in a world without electronics. We want to form part of a group.

The problem with these devices is that they all have a price. And this is the first problem – people with little money cannot spend it on new iPods or BlackBerrys. Some kids have to live without them, but then they go to school and find that everyone has these things except them. Then they are bullied because they aren't cool.

All in all, I would say that it is good that we have mobile phones and the like – they cannot be bad in themselves. I, for example, use my computer to do homework and research. With my phone I am always connected to the world, and if there is an emergency I can be called. People just have to know that there are risks involved in the use of iPods and phones.

The problems after the school.

By Xènia Nogué

There is a lot of people that when they finish school, they want to live in a flat, maybe with their friends, maybe by themselves. But they can't. Flats in the city are very expensive, and it's very difficult to find a good job and that you like it.

Sometimes you have studied for something and later on you have to work in something different because you need the money to live. When you are young, you think that everything is perfect when you finish to study. But then you discover that it's more difficult to find a job and a place to live on, than study and live with your parents.

Another problem we can add is the flat's cost. They are very expensive for students or for people starting to work. Only rich people can buy a flat for themselves. Most people need help from someone, sometimes their parents, sometimes their grandparents...

That is my opinion but I think it's reality too. So I can only say that you can study for something that you like but at the end you have to work on another thing because it's very difficult to find a job and live of it.