In April 2010 Steve Jobs created the first Ipad. It meant the possibility of having the Internet at your fingertips. Immediately that type of technology was in private school classrooms. With only one tablet these students could record videos, paint, take photos, read, browse the internet, watch videos, play educative games, calculate… Later, tablets became available in public and state-subsidized academic centres because the digital divide was a problem that needed to be eliminated.

Nowadays, this tendency of using technology for learning is changing. While the newest mobile phone is the main gift for a Spanish 12-year-old child, in Silicon Valley the children of engineers who work in companies such as Google, Apple, eBay, Yahoo… are attending schools whose lure is the absence of screens. At least, until secondary education.

Some parents are restricting the time their offspring id exposed to technologies in the house and banning the use of mobile phones in cars. Chris Anderson, ex-manager of the Wired technological magazine, put screens on the same level as cocaine. They are conscious of the addictions created by games apps. These are designed in such a way that the user generates dopamine, the hormone which feeds the reward circuit in the brain.

Some years ago kids were punished with no dessert, but now if children don’t behave well, they don’t have WI-FI.

There are several reasons why the parents of the digital revolution protect their children from that. Every day there is more information about problems caused by screens. For instance, the addiction results in low frustration tolerance, low self-esteem and problems with concentration, sight, sleep deficit… In addition to these health reasons, there are some social differentiation reasons.

The Silicon Valley private schools guarantee zero technology, blackboards, chalk, crafts and outdoor games. While the poor children are hooked on the screens, the elite kids are rediscovering the treasure of childhood: the game.

Gemma Alari i Mar Valle.

Vocabulary list:

Posh: Pijo/a

State-subsidised school:  Escola concertada

 Digital divide: Bretxa digital

Silicon Valley: És el nom de la regió sud de l’àrea de la Badia de San    Francisco, al nord de l’Estat de Califòrnia.

Lure: Temptació

Reward circuit: Recompensa

Self-esteem: Autoestima

Offspring: Fills

Chalk: Gu

La Martina és una nena de 4 anys, màgica, única, especial, feliç, riallera, trapella, sensible, lluitadora i valenta… molt valenta. Al cap de poques setmanes de néixer, un ensurt els va conduir a Sant Joan de Déu i van descobrir que la Martina patia una malaltia rara, Homocistinuria amb Acidúria Metilmalónica (CblC).

La malaltia consisteix bàsicament en un problema amb la vitamina B12 i les proteïnes. La Martina, no ha de fer una dieta baixa en proteïnes, per tant, pot menjar amb normalitat controlant  constantment amb analítiques cada 3-6 mesos, per tal que no hi hagi un descontrol en el seu cos, ja sigui per creixement o qualsevol altre factor. A més, en el cas de la Martina, cada dia, els seus pares, li han d’administrar vitamina B12 amb una punxada intramuscular. El medicament són unes ampolles d’un sol ús, que es compren a la farmàcia i són molt cares. A Catalunya no entren per la Seguretat Social, mentre que en altres Comunitats Autònomes són gratuïtes.

La Maria Parés i el Toni Rafecas són els pares de la Martina i la Gina, la seva germana petita que, per cert, d’aquí a uns mesos serà la seva germana mitjana.  L’1 de març del 2017, van crear el bloc La bombolla de la Martina, on van començar a explicar el seu dia a dia, també a l’Instagram; i algunes reflexions per part dels pares. Fins a dia d’avui, han anat desenvolupant el projecte amb la finalitat de donar visibilitat sobre la malaltia i així, reunir diners per les diferents investigacions.

Per aconseguir-ho, fa gairebé dos anys van crear #loveare que consisteix en una línia de productes (samarretes, dessuadores, bosses de tela, polseres…). A més a més, participen en projectes solidaris i moltes entitats els hi donen suport. Per exemple, l’any passat, els diners recollits de la cursa solidària Mini10k, que se celebra cada any a Vilafranca del Penedès, van anar destinats al seu projecte #loverare o també el 0,7% dels beneficis de la Festa Major.

La Martina i la seva família ens han fet emocionar i reflexionar, veure que en la vida no tot és de color rosa. Tot i així, els obstacles només estan per superar-los i per adaptar-s’hi. Malgrat aquests, es pot ser molt feliç i viure amb una certa normalitat. El més important és no rendir-se ni enfonsar-se, seguir endavant i lluitant, com ho fan tots ells. Algun dia ens agradaria ser unes mares com els pares de la Martina, uns pares que no es rendeixen i estimen amb bogeria a les seves filles!

Són un gran exemple i us animem a mirar-vos el seu instagram i bloc!

Bloc: http://labombolladelamartina.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/labombolladelamartina/

Gemma Alari i Mar Valle

The sales give customers¹ the opportunity to obtain cheaper products like clothes, shoes, jewellery and so on. Meanwhile, shops sell their winter or summer stocks. But, are people tempted to overspend and buy too many things?

The winter sales start on 7th January in Spain. Before that day people have already bought Christmas presents and some clothes for this time of the year which they needed urgently. For this reason, we think that most of us buy products on a whim², not from necessity. Most people’s wardrobes are full of clothes and the fact is that we don’t use all of them.

First of all, we have to buy in shops whose prices we can afford. Nowadays, there are hundreds of low-cost brands which sell cheap trendy apparel³, such as Zara, Pull&Bear, Stradivarius, Primark, Bershka, H&M… In addition, there are brands which are a little more expensive like Levi’s, Brownie, Ese o Ese, Mus Bombon, Subdued, GAP, Nike, Calvin Klein, Pepe Jeans, Hollister, Superdry, Blauer, Brandy Melville… which offer higher quality clothes. Instead of buying four twenty-euro pairs of trousers in Pull&Bear, you could buy only one pair of Levi’s for 80 euros.

Secondly, our wardrobe space is not unlimited! So, we have to get rid of⁴ old clothes and the ones we don’t use or don’t like. A good way of doing this is donating them to charities. In this way, we are creating some space in the wardrobe and at the same time, these organisations will find a second life for the clothes.

Lastly, when we consider whether to buy a garment⁵ in the sales or not, we have to think if we already have something similar, look at the price, how often we will wear it, the quality of the fabric⁶, how much we like it and how easy it is to combine it with other clothes, colours and prints. Paying attention to all of these aspects is being responsible about our shopping.

In conclusion, we believe that the sales are the opportunity for the customers to acquire⁷ cheaper products, which they really need, from a wide range of brands⁸. Moreover, we think that the sales can be the perfect excuse for people to renew their wardrobes, change their clothing style and get rid of old clothes. It is always a good idea to donate them to charities, both of us do this and it is very satisfying!

Gemma Alari  and  Mar Valle

Vocabulary list

• Customers¹ → Clients
• Whim²→ Capritx
• Apparel³→ Roba
• Get rid of⁴ → Desfer-se d’alguna cosa.
• Garment⁵ → Peça (de roba)
• Fabric⁶ → Teixit
• To acquire⁷ → Obtenir, comprar.
• Brands⁸ → Marques