FORBIDDEN TO SMOKE

Spain has suffered the consequences of the smoking ban. It has been forbidden to smoke in restaurants and outside some public areas like hospitals or schools. In my opinion, it will make smokers become angry because there’s no reason not to let them smoke in the street.

The way I see it, smokers should be allowed to smoke outside all the public establishments as the new law doesn’t let them smoking in bars. I think the government should have imposed the law in parts in order to help people to get used to it. In my view, if the government had first only banned smoking in bars, people wouldn’t have reacted in that way. What’s more, if people were able to smoke anywhere in the street, they wouldn’t be so angry. The problem is that in many cities or small towns there are lots of schools, hospitals and parks. As a result, it has become a problem for smokers to find a place where to smoke without breaking the law and in peace. It’s seems like some day people will only be able to smoke in their houses.

To sum up, I think that the biggest mistake made by the government has been forbid people to smoke in the street. The citizens must be able to choose if they want to smoke in an open area and I am sure that the tobacco effects are not worse than the pollution from cars.

              Elisabet Carbó 2A

THERAPEUTIC MARIJUANA

Despite being a forbidden plant in many countries in the World, some of them have recognised cannabis as a medicine. It has been demonstrated that it can alleviate the sickness and the pain, among other health problems. However, many people disagree about its legality because it is actually a drug. Consequently, it has caused differences of opinion.

It is true that marijuana can be addictive and it can provoke a potential abuse. Besides, many people think that the components of cannabis can be toxic and not very healthy and they say that safety is over efficacy. For this reason, they think that we should use more safer medicines.

However, it is clear that it has been used as an herbal medicine for a long time before forbidding it.  Moreover, it can not be argued that it is natural and organic plant safer than synthetic drugs and surely less addictive than other artificial substances. In addition, cannabis has a really strong therapeutic potential. What is more, many people have demonstrated their support to this plant as a medicine and many countries have already legalised it.

As I see, there are many reasons to believe that it is not bad as a medicine when used cautiously. In my opinion, therapeutic marijuana has more advantages than disadvantages. The effects of this plant have been showed in the results of many patients who have been treated with it. To conclude, I would say that we should provide an opportunity to this natural with no-additive substance which is less problematic than many pills we have at home.

Elisabet Carbó 2A

The government is thinking of banning the sale of alcohol to people under the age of twenty-one.

             In my country, the minimum legal age for buying alcohol is eighteen. In my opinion it's a good age to be able to buy it, because when you're eighteen you are mature enough to know that alcohol is detrimental to your health. For this reason, I disagree with the idea of banning the sale of alcohol to people under the age of twenty-one.

            First of all, I think that when young people have been told not to drink alcohol, then they are more interested in tasting it. For this reason, from my point of view, raising the age to sell alcohol is not the solution to this problem, because a ban doesn’t make them realise of the negative consequences of drinking alcohol.

            Secondly, in my own opinion, what the government and we all really have to do is change the culture of drinking alcohol. Teenagers see alcohol as the only way to have a good time when they go out. Parents should talk about it with their children and they should advise them not to drink alcohol because it's also a drug, even though it's a legal substance. Furthermore, I think that the government must launch campaigns to warn about the negative effects of alcohol as well as making education programmes in schools.   

            In conclusion, I would say that if we want the number of young people who drink alcohol decrease, we must promote a different way to have fun without drinking alcohol.

Kassandra Pons Haro

2^nd B

EUTHANASIA

Euthanasia is the practice of ending with someone's life who's seriously ill in order to ease the pain. Nowadays, in our society, euthanasia is a legal and a moral challenge. Some people, who are terminally ill, want us to let them die, so that they could finish with that life that is driving them crazy. It is in this moment, when we think about the possibility of legalizing euthanasia. There are two points of view about this issue.

On the one hand, some people think that euthanasia must be legalized because, when someone is terminally ill, it depends a lot on other people. They feel like their lives have no sense at all. Moreover, they say that everybody is different, so it's difficult to apply the same law to all the patients. For this reason, when someone asks for the euthanasia, even though he is ill, we must respect his autonomy and accept to do it. We must all have the right to decide what to do with our life.

On the other hand, there are people, usually religious people, who feel that life is one of our basic rights. God gave us life as a present, so we must make the most of it. Besides, they say that euthanasia is usually requested by depressive or disturbed people. This group of people think that therapies are the solution for this kind of patients, because they can build their hopes up. It is also important to know that there could be some mysterious deaths to receive an inheritance or related to political and economic interests.

                                  

In my own opinion, although it's a difficult decision, people might have the chance to decide what to do with their lives. For this reason, we should have the opportunity to ask for euthanasia if we are terminally ill. I think that everyone must be in control of himself. Even though I'm in favor of the legalization of euthanasia, I think that there is a narrow relationship between economic development and euthanasia, so it must be carefully legalized.

Kassandra Pons Haro   2nd Batxillerat B 

SLEEP DEBT

Nowadays many people sleep fewer hours than they should because their pace of life is very stressing. Moreover, due to this stress and the lack of sleep they are tired and they aren’t productive at work. In addition, if they don’t work well, companies lose money and the economy goes bad.

I think these people don’t sleep enough because the modern society doesn’t let them. People work too much because they need to earn more money in order to pay their huge houses, electrical appliances, clothes and other purchases, new and expensive cars... They have lots of things to do and little time, therefore, they hurry up in excessive way, so they are stressed, they need more time and they reduce their hours of sleep. Nevertheless, if they don’t sleep, their abilities diminish, health can be harmed and they work in a bad way. Consequently, people also drink much coffee and the caffeine can also damage their health.

I believe that in some cases this lifestyle can be bad and harmful to us. Society advances and we must advance with society too, but we must do this cautiously.    

     Natàlia Mercadal 2n BTX A

KEEPING ANIMALS IN ZOOS

Nowadays, the fact of keeping animals in zoos is very discussed. Is it really good from the ethic point of view? Is it so bad and horrible as lots of people say? It creates a serious controversy.

On the one hand, when we visit a zoo we can see many animals that we could never see without a zoo. Moreover, a zoo can also be a nice way to learn about animals, because we don’t have to go so far as a jungle and we aren’t in danger.  Furthermore, it’s useful to children so they can appreciate the diversity of the nature.  

On the other hand, keeping animals in zoos is wrong because these animals haven’t lived in freedom and their conduct is different from other animals that have lived in their natural habitat. Sometimes animals haven’t got enough space. Therefore, although these animals live longer than the rest of animals that are free, they are shut in cages with deplorable conditions and most of them are bored and depressed.

In spite of what some people say, I’m against keeping animals in zoos. We shouldn’t let people have animals in captivity in zoos in order to earn lots of money. In addition, these people don’t care about the animals. Animals have animal rights too, they’re living beings.   

Natalia Mercadal 2n BTX A

SHOULD COMPUTERS BE USED IN CLASS?

It seems that more and more often computers and technology are being used in an educational setting. This use of computers in education has changed the way that people learn in a short period of time. However, there are many people who think that it’s not a good idea to use computers in classroom.

On the one hand, it is said that computers allow students to have access to different ideas, thoughts, and materials they wouldn’t have if they didn’t have any. Furthermore, students can be interactive learners, since they may read, do activities or play educational games. In addition, children would be able to see anything they can’t see. For instance, so many children have no concept of what an ocean is as their parents can’t afford to take them, but with a laptop they can see it and understand. The possibilities are endless. Furthermore, computers can also help students with visual disabilities.

On the other hand, many people think that computers shouldn’t become the centre of attention during the lesson, seeing that laptops bring on too many distractions, from messenger to other web pages, or games. Furthermore, due to the use of computers, students are becoming worst and worst writers. As they can’t practise writing with paper and pen, their calligraphy is awful. But not only the calligraphy is worse, the spelling is also getting worse, since the computer corrects their mistakes, so now children make more spelling mistakes.

As I see it, there are more advantages than disadvantages about the use of computers. However, it’s necessary to solve the problems as well. Besides, nowadays children spend too much time on the computer, and it can be dangerous as it interferes with other physical activities that can help them be balanced individuals.

                                               Martina López 2nd B batx

TO SMACK OR NOT TO SMACK

The law isn’t very clear about hitting children. It’s known that teachers cannot smack children, but what about parents? You are allowed to use physical punishment to your child if you aren’t very tough, but it’s difficult to know exactly what being very tough means.

On the one hand, some people think that corporal punishment has to be banned since it makes children become violent. On the other hand, many people say that smacking children is the most useful punishment and it has been used by parents many years, so it really works.

In my opinion, there’s no excuse for smacking children. It should be banned, because when you hit a child you are transmitting him/her the idea that hitting is the way to get what you want. For this reason, children learn to solve their problems using violence instead of dialogue. Although smacking children is easier than making them understand why they have been wrong using dialogue, it’ll be more beneficial if you try to speak with him/her.

To sum up, I strongly believe that smacking children is a mistake, as children have to understand that violence is always worse than dialogue, and that everything can be solved in a pacific way.

Martina López 2º b batx.

SHOULD TEACHERS BE STRICTER?

Nowadays, most people think that teachers should have more authority to improve education; but others think that they shouldn’t because we wouldn’t have freedom.

On the one hand, people who are in favor, think that if teachers had more authority, students would have a better behaviour and they would listen more in class; as a result, they would have a higher educational level. In addition, children would be more controlled and they couldn’t use cribs.

On the other hand, some parents think that their children wouldn’t have so much freedom because teachers would be too hard and, if they had more authority, they could get to abuse them. Consequently, the students who were in these schools would have a closed thought; they should learn other rules.

I think that some teachers should be stricter with some of the students; especially with students who have a bad behaviour so they can modify it. And if they were stricter, students would have better performance.

              Raquel Haro 2n BTX A

Is our society too obsessed with problems of weight?

It has been said that humanity has had a negative effect on our world because of the obsession with our weight. The causes of this obsession may end in eating disorders, like anorexia or bulimia. As far as I’m concerned, not everyone is equally affected; although people who have eating disorders, have a problematic disease.

On the one hand, you only have to look at the sizes which are sold in shops; there aren’t any big sizes. And people who are fat, they can’t dress as they want to because they don’t find anything for them. Moreover, the shop-window mannequins affect our society because that people think that they need to wear a size 34 to be normal. Consequently, they begin to obsess about their weight.

On the other hand, I think that shops should sell big sizes so that people wouldn’t be obsessed with their weight and they could have a normal life. But, the problem is that if shops sell big sizes, people don’t worry and they begin to be fat.

In conclusion, I believe that people should eat a balanced diet and do a lot of exercise; to be normal. Therefore, I think that shops should sell up to size 46.

                                                                         Raquel Haro Lendínez

                                                                                              2n Batx. A