Ethics Exercise

    I disagree completely with my classmates. I was shouted at for being such an immoral person, but I think that, if explained slowly and rationally, my point could make sense.

    I start form the point that sex is not something someone should be ashamed about. If someone thinks the other way, he/she will never agree with my conclusions on this issue. In my opinion, she was guilty for nothing  but not telling her parents (responsible of course, but remember she was underaged). Emphasizing with her, I think that I would be so desperate that I could do anything to deal with it. Imagine: pregnant with 17 years, your boyfriend has left  you because he doesn’t want to be involved; everyone you have turned to has left you, including a doctor friend of yours, and a nurse offers you a risky treatment that may help… From my point of view, she made a decision; it may not be the correct one, but in such a frightening and desperate scenario I can understand her.

    In my opinion, from an ethical point of view the most abhorrent one  is her boyfriend. He ran away cowardly, leaving her hopeless and not knowing what to do. He eluded his responsability as a father and as a trustworthy help that he had to be for her.

    The teacher is quite responsible too. He used the school policy as an excuse not to help her when he could have given her advice and help looking for solutions. Bit he's also the less related one, and his decision of not getting involved can be understood.

    The inexcusable one is the doctor. First of all, he didn't help her due to his conservative points of view, breaking the oath every doctor does. And also for not telling her parents being a friend of the family, when she needed all the support they could provide her.

    I find myself having to defend the nurse. Everyone critisized her for being such an unsensitive monster, advising a poor girl to go to an illegal clinic to go through a risky abortion; in my opinion, that's  really unfair. When everyone had left the girl, she was the only one trying to help her. She advised wrong (the poor girl died), but her only aim was to help the desperate teen.

    Adn finally, the parents were critisized because they didn't know what was happening in their own house. The flaw of that argument is that the mistake was not theirs but hers. The fact of not knowing exempt them of being guilty, even if they are responsible.

    Putting it in a nutshell, I think that, considering what I've explained above, this should be the order:
Boyfriend - Doctor - Nurse - Teacher - Her - Parents

My Burning Red Cardigan

      December 1998. During Christmas, my family and I went to Donosti to have a walk and, as I would know years after, buy presents. I was three years old, and I was fascinated by the lights and the carols. Once, when my parents stopped in front of a cloth-shop I saw a Olentzero singing. I was completely struck, and when he walked away, I left my grandma's hand and followed him. When my mother looked to where I was, she found nothing. The immediately stared terrified at the busy street. I, by the way, was chasing that Olentzero, that had stopped at the corner and had begun singing again. They started searching me, and of course, they found me staring completely haunted to him. My mother held my hand, and we went back to where my grandparents and my father were. When they asked where I had been, I replied, nonchalantly: "Singing with Olentzero". They smiled; fortunately, they had founded me and nothing had happened.

       They now tell me that they found me in a few moments because I wore a special cardigan that my grandma had knitted. As it was very bright red, they could see me between all those grey and black clothes that are so typical at winter.

What Concerns Teenagers

      The adolescence is the most turbulent and treacherous stage of life. The high speed of all physical and psychological changes make teenagers' life not very well directioned, and most of them act very impulsively. But lots of time that reckless actitude is extended to all young people, what I find very annoying. In my opinion there are teens that don't think too much before acting, but there are also teenagers that are more rational. Some teenagers, mostly boys, don't act their age, and their worries are not very deep. But as adolescence is the phase where image is most important, where is the difference between being shallow and sensible?

      The issue that most concerns me is the future: studies, work, love, ecology... With all my life in front of me, I want to make sure that my future is going to be stable. In this time of crisis and uncertainity the studies you do and the education you have may be very influential in the work you get. The labor market has really dark prospects, and I'm quite cynical about it. However, I'm getting quite good marks at school, so I'm quite upbeat about university. I'm not about the degree I want to study as I was a few months ago, but I don't consider it very important.

      I think most teenagers are really concerned about what is going to happen the next years. It's true that we tend to think about the inmediate than others, but we take the future really seriously. Sounds quite extrange, because we are thought to be more impulsive, but in my opinion teenagers care more about the tomorrow than people think.

     

Malala Yousufzai

      Malala, a 14 year old girl from Pakistan, was shot down two weeks ago by the Taliban. In the name of God and the ancient local culture, this kind of events are getting more and more frequent, and the rate of violations of the human rights is becoming alarmingly high.

      First of all, I would like to say I am not against any culture or society; as a member of a minor culture, I know how important tolerance is. But human rights are above all cultural or racial feelings. No cause is fair or important enough to kill somebody. As I said, I am completely in favor of defending your own culture and lifestyle, but that must be done in peace, and the only way is through respect and mutual understanding.

      In my opinion, Taliban have lost (if they did not lose it before) any right to discuss their ideas on that issue. They will say that is God’s will. However, I wonder if they think about the fact that shooting a girl just because she defended her right to go to school is a good way to share their thoughts, as it only inspires fear and hat towards them. They should wonder if a regimen that has to be protected by murdering innocent people is legitimated.

     In my opinion, they tried to murder that girl just because religious and political fanaticism and I am sure that every democratic and respectful person will be horrified by this cruel action.

Dear Alexander

Dear Alexander:

     I hope that’s your name now :). Happy Birthday! How are you doing? Where are you? Are you in the States, or did you decide to stay at home? Hope you’re not alone... I have great expectations on you. I think my life nowadays is really nice, and my prospects for the next years are quite upbeat.

     What are you doing? Being 22, I hope you’re still studying. Are you doing Astrophysics, or are you studying any other type of Physics? I’m writing this letter wondering what am I going to do at University. Hope you’ve no problems and you’re happy with your choice.

     And love? Are you still a naïve romantic boy, or life has given you too much lemons to make lemonade, and you’re a common guy now? Hope not; I hope you still believe in fairytales and storybook love. Do you still listen to TS and Boyce Avenue? Well, I’m really looking forward “Red” right now, so I don’t know if she’s a storyteller or a plain pop Singer.

     Hope you’re doing well, and you’re not alone. Don’t remember me as your posh and shallow past.

Keep writing your fairytale

Best wishes, and be ourself

You at 2012