LingoMap Blog: Social Issues

This month the topic of my blog is ‘Social issues’.

Social Issues

Definition: A problem that influences a considerable number of people within a society

One of the main social issues I have heard about since living here is the idea of ‘Generación Nini’. This name is given to the current generation of young people (los jóvenes), who are neither working nor studying.

‘Generación Nini’ generally refers to young people between the ages of 18 and 25 who have not continued into further education but also do not have a job, or an apprenticeship, and generally live day to day with the support of their family. From what I have learnt since living in Spain, this issue is due to several things. The first is problems with the education system here. Some people believe that teenagers are not given enough support throughout their time at school and end up unsure of what to do after they finish.

The second is the unemployment rate here in Spain is high. This means it is very difficult for young people to find or sustain jobs, leaving them unable to move out of their family home and support themselves financially.

The second social issue I have heard about since living in Spain is the amount of homework children receive. In November last year, parents throughout the country went on strike over the amount of homework their children were receiving every week. On average children in Spain are given 6.5 hours of homework per week, compared with children in the UK who typically receive between 4-5 hours a week.

Many parents believe that too much homework can be a negative thing that interferes with extracurricular activities such as sport, music, arts and crafts or drama, for example.

What do you think? Do you think homework is a good thing? My guess is that a lot of you would prefer to be playing football, and that’s what many parents in Spain think aswell!

Vocabulary

‘Generación Nini’ ‘Generation neither/nor’ OR Generation X

Los jóvenes – Young people

Los deberes/tareas – Homework