Social Inclussion and Guettos in Europe
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- Created on Tuesday, 19 April 2016 10:32
- Written by basquecountry
ESSAY
Everyone is very aware of the economic crisis that has hit us all, nevertheless, not that many people see the effect that it has had on the younger ones and how it has increased their risk of social exclusion. We talk about social exclusion because it’s very often used to understand the complicated concept of social inclusion which has many different dimensions. Social exclusion is still and ambiguous concept itself but we would be able to define it as a complex process that involves the lack of resources, rights, goods and services and the inability to participate in normal relationships and activities that are available to the majority of people in a society, in economic, social or political areas. Whereas, on the other hand, if we were to define social inclusion we would say that is a process which ensures that those at risk of poverty and social exclusion gain opportunities and resources necessary to participate fully in economic, social and cultural life, enjoying a standard of living and well-being that is considered normal in the society they live in. Both concepts can be understood in a more abstract way and encompassing individuals (the excluded, for instance) and the more systemic factors (the excluders), regardless, it is necessary to understand both concepts in order to be aware what social inclusion means for youth and what the consequences of their exclusion are.
This global economic collapse that I have just mentioned is mirrored specifically in Spain in the economy and education of the younger ones. From the young people’s perspective being socially included means the overall realization of their potential within society and the contribution that they can make (manifested by work, study volunteering and other forms of participation). However, this would be different for people that come from disadvantaged backgrounds as for them it would mean dealing with additional barriers so that they can reach their full potential (for instance, the ones that live in ghettoes - with whom we will be dealing with specifically). Therefore, we can agree that the possession of human, economic and social capital is crucial in order for them to not be socially excluded.
Talking about Spain specifically and focusing on the young people that live in the ghettoes it’s important to know that while more than 70% of expats in Spain choose to live closely with their Spanish neighbors, the rest opt for an address in one of the ‘ghettoes’. Worker, retirees and families live mostly in those ghettoes, and most of these families try their best to get their children to have a proper education and thus the resources and tools needed to be incorporated to the labor market later on. A lot of times, though, this is not the case as the families don’t have a financial security and they can’t afford a proper education or as the children want to start to work as soon as possible to help in the family’s incomes. Therefore, a major amount of these young children leave school sooner than the ones that don’t live in ghettos and can pay the education. Nonetheless, overall, the rate of young people that leave school early is really high in Spain. This aspect means the lack of skills and qualifications of young people, hence the creation of an endless cycle of poverty and social exclusion, as consequently these young adults have a higher risk of suffering from them.
As we can see, economic issues are closely linked to the matter of the education. These monetary barriers are a big concern in young people, as having that kind of capital represents an ‘entry ticket’ to a number of activities. Not having that entry means you are not able to participate in the labour market and education and therefore are more likely to accumulate traumatic experiences.In this regard, we can all agree how the roles of education and of employment are critical; as for the first one, it provides the resources needed to move into adulthood, and the latter, provides the income needed to reach financial independence, thus reaching the entry ticket of full participation.
These impediments to have a proper education that young people that live in the ghettoes suffer from, not only can lead them to a long-life social exclusion as they’re not provided with the necessary rules, but can also lead to major consequences as psychological consequences (loneliness, restlessness, anxiety, depression...) as well as behaviour changes (drug and alcohol dependence).
In consequence of all of this, a cycle of social immobility is created, which is higher than many people think and basically prevents young people from getting socially included. As to what the solutions these young people could provide, I believe that attending college, making the most of it and keeping their record clean of any criminal acts could potentially help in getting them through to a successful labor market and boosting the social mobility. If they try hard on their studies and not quit school early to go to work, they will for sure achieve a more successful job later on with which they will help so much more economically to their families than in any other way, and will as well allow more social mobility. On the other hand, whenever these children see differences being made on them for having a certain background or living in ghettoes they should denounce it and fight for their rights, in order for a difference to be made.
As a conclusion, we should say that young people have been hit hard by the economic crisis suffered by all recently, and as a result an increase in the unemployment rate has happened, and, in addition, the youth disengaged from the education has increased considerably. As a consequence this has lead to the nearly overcrowding of the ghettoes in certain areas and the low living conditions of the people and specially young children living in them. In other words, the crisis has happened to make young people face the highest risk of social exclusion. Moreover, for all the previously mentioned, the disengagement from education and therefore with the labour market hinders, as we have said, the accumulation of social, human and economic capital for young people, thus creating a wide range of negative consequences; poor future employment outcomes, risk of having physical and mental health issues, deterioration of well-being, risk of having an asocial lifestyle, risk of crime and drug misuse and a partial participation in economic, social and cultural life. Notwithstanding, the worst consequence of all is the lifelong social exclusion that these problems may lead to.
With this in mind, we can conclude that ensuring full participation in society and encouraging the active inclusion of young people living in ghettoes is of key importance.
As for me, I believe social inclusion is vital in any kind of situation in order to guarantee equality and the human rights that every person should have. Furthermore, I am certain that social inclusion starts from the individual to the community, therefore, in order to reach it, we should start by fomenting it ourselves (the young generations); taking into consideration all the different aspects we have been working on in the previous lines.
Ane Cortés Antolín.
SOCIAL INCLUSION AND GHETTOS
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- Created on Tuesday, 19 April 2016 10:30
- Written by basquecountry
SOCIAL INCLUSION AND GHETTOS
First of all, we should know what social inclusion means. As it is said in the dictionary, social inclusion is the provision of certain rights to all individuals and groups in society, such as employment, adequate housing, health care, education and training, etc. This phrase is always in many politicians’ mouths, but why is it that necessary and good for the society?
Social inclusion also means that minorities are integrated in society, and are able to participate in social and economical life. This, for many people, is something they have to ask for and not something they are given since they are born. For example, old people are seen as incappable of taking their own decisions so society treats them in a paternalistic way. This fact makes them be more dependent on the others and less self-efficient, and are not able to participate in many economic roles.
Other minority affected that should be socially included are inmigrants. To start with, we have to mention health. Many inmigrants are not completely ensured and they don´t have the right to be attended in some cases, which is really unfair. Every human should have access to public and universal health. To continue, social rights are very important. Every foreigner should have the right to have an identity card and to be recognised as a citizen from the country he is staying at. They also should have the right to vote and to take part in the political issues that are affecting the country.
The are many ways to put social inclusion into practice: promote and support access to social networks, resolve transport issues so that they do not prevent people from participating in the wider community, build links with community projects, community centres and schools to increase levels of social contact between people from different generations, identify, respect and use people’s skills, including the skills of older people gained in previous employment, give people ordinary opportunities to participate in the wider community through person-centred care planning or involve people in service planning and ensure ideas and suggestions are acted upon
For me, social inclusion means respecting people´s dignity and integrity, no matter where they come from, how old they are, what sex they are or anything at all. We are all humans and we all deserve being treated equally and having the same rights. For centuries, we have been separated for any difference and been differentiated in an unfair way. Taking part in society is crucial in our lives to ensure a future based in equality and democracy.
Now that we have talked about social inclusion in general, I would like to introduce the topic of ghettos. A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure. The term ghetto has been historically used to describe legally sanctioned segregated areas occupied by ethnic minorities. Although some writers contend that the first ghettos were created to segregate Jews during the Roman Empire between the first and fourth century CE, the term is most commonly used to describe segregated Jewish sections in Italy, Germany, and Portugal in the 1200s. The translation of the term ghetto originally referred to the Venice Ghetto in the 1300s and areas of town that were originally iron foundries or gettos before being converted to secluded Jewish sections.
A long line of research in the sociology of labour markets established that individuals often acquire jobs through personal contacts rather than through formal channels, so this can make us observe that people who come from discriminated areas are less likely to get a decent job with decent labour conditions. This does not only affect their work, but also their social life. A person who is integrated in a job and in a working area has less difficulty to succeed socially and to be surrounded by an inspiring and empowering background that will make that person improve himself/herself.
These ghettos might affect much more to young people, since they are in the age of developing their personalities and their careers. To do this, they need to grow up in a developed area with diversity and enough facilities for them. Without it, they don´t have as many opportunities as the rest of young people have.
So what could we do to stop the appearance of ghettos? First of all, we should look for economic ways to avoid them. Economic helps are, from my point of view, one of the best methods to use. If we help minorities in danger of marginalization giving them enough money to start a new life, they could manage to succeed in social and working life. They can also start a business, for example, and be entrepreneurs so they can go increasing their capital.
Another way to develop is education. We should educate the new generation with values of respect to other races, and show them that diversity is one of the magic things that make society work properly. We should never forget that embracing our differences makes them unique. Education is always a beautiful way of learning different cultures so everybody accepts other cultures living together in their neighbourhoods.
SOCIAL INCLUSION OF YOUNG PEOPLE (Bilbao)
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- Created on Tuesday, 19 April 2016 10:29
- Written by basquecountry
Nahia Garcia
Botikazar High School
Social Inclusion of young people
April 2016
SOCIAL INCLUSION OF YOUNG PEOPLE
Some studies have shown that the role of education is of key importance to avoid social exclusion due to its importance to have access to good employment later in life and as a foundation for future social capital. Social exclusion may start very early in life when children are just kids so providing good quality education for all members of society is vital in order to avoid further social exclusion.
In the Basque Country there are not officially recognized “guettos” but the increasing number of immigrants has led the Parents Associations of Alava Schools to denounce the situation children are suffering nowadays because a small number of public schools are forced to accept a great number of immigrant children as students.
Just 11,21% of the primary schools in this area of Spain have to educate half of the total immigrant students,this means a great number of immigrant students in a few schools which makes the appearance of ghettos more likely to happen. Some remedies proposed by the Parents Associations to avoid this situation are:
1. Eliminating religion as a subject from the schools to make possible children from different cultural backgrounds to share a common classroom.
2. Forcing the private schools that receive public funds to accept students from different cultural backgrounds and face the issues related to immigrants students in order to share the burden in an equitative way. At the moment most of the Basque young students who apply to these schools do not share their classrooms with immigrants because those schools do not accept them .
3. Universalize the so called “ D model” which focusses on the use of the Basque language in the classroom.
In Alava,one of the three provinces of our autonomous community,whose capital city is Vitoria-Gasteiz , in four public schools eight out of ten students are immigrants while in twenty other schools immigrants occupy a ratio higher than the 30%. Most parents from state schools think that all schools that receive public money should accept immigrants .If parents want their children to belong to a special “elite” they should pay for a 100 % private school which does not receive any public funds .
Another important social issue to deal with in the Basque Country is the gypsy communities as they have their own language,traditions and customs . The gypsies came to Spain 500 years ago from India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Nowadays there are over a million gypsies in Spain from which twenty thousand live in the Basque Country. According to the testimony of a member of the FSG (Gipsy Secretary Foundation) interviewed by a local newspaper the situation of this etnia is “getting better” in the Basque Country although prejudices related to the general belief of “ their specifically problematic behaviour” are still common . Sadly this statement is valid for the whole Spanish state not just the Basque Country. In 1989 a gypsy association called Kale Dor Kayiko (gypsies of the morning) was founded in Bilbao(capital city of one of the provinces of our autonomous region). Some of its goals are gender equality, integration of the etnia in the society, educate, spread awareness and debate about topics such as the social participation of the gypsies in the Basque Country. During 1995 and 1996 this association worked together with The Academy of Basque Language in a research about a linguistic phenomenon called “Erromintxela”. “Erromintxela” is the mixture of both Basque and the Romani( the native language of the gypsies). This investigation did not reach its end due to lack of interest by the local government,it is important to mention that a lot of Basque people are not aware of the gypsy community in our land and they are “invisible” to most native people.As one spokeperson of the association said “not finishing the project on erromintxela is a case of cultural terrorism against the cultural patrimony of the Basque and locally born Romani people”.
A good way to avoid the social exclusion of young people born in gypsy communities could be to start making this communities “visible” for all the people but not only as a source of social issues but as an ethnic group part of the whole Basque society .
In conclusion, diversity education plays a vital role at the time of avoiding the appearance of ghettos ,it would potentially promote tolerance of other cultures in a country in its long run and would also help the social inclusion of most members of the society.
SCIAL INCLUSSION IN BILBAO (Basque country)
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- Created on Tuesday, 19 April 2016 10:27
- Written by basquecountry
SOCIAL INCLUSION (Nerea López)
First of all, we should know what social inclusion means. As it is said in the dictionary, social inclusion is the provision of certain rights to all individuals and groups in society, such as employment, adequate housing, health care, education and training, etc. This phrase is always in many politician´s mouths, but why is it that necessary and good for the society?
Social inclusion also means that minorities are integrated in society, and are able to participate in social and economical life. This, for many people, is something they have to ask for and not something they are given since they are born. For example, old people are seen as incappable of taking their own decisions so society treats them in a paternalistic way. This fact makes them be more dependent on the others and less self-efficient, and are not able to participate in many economic roles.
Other minority affected that should be socially included are inmigrants. To start with, we have to mention health. Many inmigrants are not completely ensured and they don´t have the right to be attended in some cases, which is really unfair. Every human should have access to public and universal health. To continue, social rights are very important. Every foreigner should have the right to have an identity card and to be recognised as a citizen from the country he is staying at. They also should have the right to vote and to take part in the political issues that are affecting the country.
The are many ways to put social inclusion into practice: promote and support access to social networks, resolve transport issues so that they do not prevent people from participating in the wider community, build links with community projects, community centres and schools to increase levels of social contact between people from different generations, identify, respect and use people’s skills, including the skills of older people gained in previous employment, give people ordinary opportunities to participate in the wider community through person-centred care planning or involve people in service planning and ensure ideas and suggestions are acted upon
For me, social inclusion means respecting people´s dignity and integrity, no matter where they come from, how old they are, what sex they are or anything at all. We are all humans and we all deserve being treated equally and having the same rights. For centuries, we have been separated for any difference and been differentiated in an unfair way. Taking part in society is crucial in our lives to ensure a future based in equality and democracy.
SOCIAL INCLUSION (Ane Cortes)
As far as I’m concerned social inclusion is the provision of certain rights to all individuals, and these rights can be of all kind (employment, a decent house, health care, education...) and always based on equality. Therefore, I believe social inclusion is really positive and vital in any kind of society or community.
On the one hand, we can enhance how vital social inclusion is in health care and employment. Often, many people face different kind of barriers; disabilities, poverty... in addition, even someone’s religion or culture can become a reason to exclude them from society. This deprives them from certain rights (among others; employment and health care) which leave most of them in poverty and without any resources to make a living. With social inclusion, the integration of these people would be ensured based on equality, and they would have the same facilities as other people to make their own living.
On the other hand, we can see its importance near us, that is, in education. Every person has the right to acquire the needed knowledge and skills for life and further employment, no matter their socio-political situation, their religion or culture. Therefore, we should work with all kind of people assuring everyone’s inclusion and encourage others to do so as well.
Over all, I think social inclusion is necessary in any kind of situation in order to guarantee equality and certain rights for everybody. Furthermore, I believe social inclusion starts from the individual to the community, so, in order to reach it, we should start by fomenting it ourselves.
SOCIAL INCLUSION (Nahia Garcia)
Social inclusion is the process of improving the conditions for individuals and groups to be part of the society. The aims of it are connecting with family, friends and local community, participating in society through access to services and employment, dealing with personal crises and being heard. Also it ensures that people have a voice in decisions which affect their lives and that they enjoy equal access to markets, services and political, social and physical spaces.
In order to promote social inclusion governments focus on six dimensions:
• The first one is poverty prevention because when someone is poor his or her social participation and self- determined life are unlikely to happen. Poverty is the main factor of social and economic exclusion of young people.
• The second one is equitable education. Equal access to good-quality education is crucial to provide the same capabilities and opportunities in order to advance. Also it is vital to ending hereditary social exclusion and it supports integration as well as a lifelong learning.
• The third dimension is labor-market. It provides an income and also facilitates social participation. Incisiveness is extremely important because an individual's status is defined mainly by his or her job. Being excluded from the labor-market may cause serious health stress but it also limits the opportunities for self-realization of one person and helps increase the risk of poverty.
• The forth one is health. The conditions in which people spend their lives until they finally die are determined by political, social and economic factors. Depending on the family and its social and economic policies, a child can grow and fully develop his or her potential or whether it will be destroyed. This is the reason for why access to healthcare makes young people be active in society.
• The fifth dimension is social cohesion and non-discrimination avoiding the social polarization and ensuring basic services for all.
• The last one is inter-generational justice. It is important for contemporary generations to have a satisfying life at the same time they save for the future and share social burdens among the different generations.
Challenges related to social exclusion happen all around the world not just in developing countries. People face exclusion, discrimination or extreme poverty everywhere. In loads of developed countries discuss around inmigrants and restrictions for them when it comes to get acess to markets and benefits. These developed countries need foreign workforce but frequently inmigrants are discriminated against. Every country in the world has issues related to social inclusion and seems to be there is no way to put an end to them.
Social inclusion in Piazzola sul Brenta (Italy)
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- Created on Sunday, 03 April 2016 09:44
- Written by italy
SOCIAL INCLUSION IN OUR LOCAL AREA – NORTH EAST OF ITALY
Sofia Cabrele IIS Rolando da Piazzola, Piazzola sul Brenta (ITALY)
In order to avoid social exclusion, our territory has always worked hard to create and promote associations and also services that could help foreign young people feeling part of our society. Most of all, many people voluntarily accept to take part in different non-paid activities the local associations organize for this purpose. In order to be able to offer such activities, the associations must be registered and authorized by the town administration.
One of the associations that best works to promote social inclusion in our town, Piazzola sul Brenta, is Jonathan http://www.jonathancoop.com This free social cooperative is made up of young volunteers who help students of all ages and nationalities study and learn the Italian language to get quickly integrated in the italian society. However it also organizes outside activities, such as games and projects, in order to teach Italian and foreign youth that cultural differences are not a barrier.
Other projects like the previous ones have been in use for foreign people and not only youth: for example the scouts. It is a Catholic group of people, teenagers but not only, that once a week gather to help associations which are against mafia to sell products and do volunteer work , and three times a year organize an excursion, usually in the mountains, to get to know each other better and learn together how to deal with difficulties.
Also our local church helps a lot to encourage social inclusion. In their activities, priests support people to accept different life styles, go over barriers that divide different generations, create the conditions so that everyone could be of help for the others.
However, as we know, social exclusion affects also national people with economical problems. In fact, sometimes some Italians do not feel entirely accepted and included in the society for several reasons: for example, they are unemployed or temporarily out of jobs. Some feel excluded because they don’t have enough money to pay fees or buy cool clothes. To avoid this sense of inferiority the Italian government has decided to earmark some money to families with a temporary precarious situation but also has created aggregative opportunities for dialog aimed to encourage mutual understanding and socialization. Also the provincial council is involved in similar projects: they have built and destined a number of houses and flats to people who don’t have one but especially don’t have the money to pay for it. In addition to this, the province organizes events, usually on Sunday, of reunion: they play films for younger and adults, invite people to talk about today’s issues.
I think our territory is doing lot of useful things for social inclusion. However it would be better to organize more days in which foreigners could have the opportunity to feel really part of the local population. This doesn’t necessarily mean to do it with public speeches or debates. An idea could be to organize once a month a sort of party with a theme that includes foreign cultures: an example could be represented by a Chinese party, in which people (Italian and other ethnic groups included) have to wear typical Chinese clothes and eat Chinese food. This could help to better appreciate life styles different from the Italian one.
SOCIAL INCLUSION AT OUR SCHOOL ROLANDO DA PIAZZOLA
Alessandra Facco IIS Rolando da Piazzola, Piazzola sul Brenta (ITALY)
improve social inclusion my school "Rolando da Piazzola" organises a lot of projects that are very helpful, such as students’ exchanges to international destinations, alternative days of school, sports and workshops after the school, social days and desk services.
These projects help not only shy or introverted people to communicate but also students of recent immigration. In my opinion the most interesting and original projects are the alternative school days and social days. The school organises about 2 or 3 such days a year in which teachers don’t teach and regular lessons are banned. During these days we have the opportunity to choose different workshops on several topics, for example science, art, music and cre ativity. There are also debates and conferences organized by the students’ board where topics such as drugs, business and medicine are discussed. Students can join any workshop they like so we choose according to what we are interested most and it's a different way to learn. During the meetings we aren't divided into regular classes but we are with students from all the school so we can interact with young people we don't know. During the debates we first listen to a trainer or a qualified person and after we ask questions and we share opinions and ideas. According to me, talking to different people and not only to classmates is a nice way to interact.
The social day is also a good experience and it's a new experience in the school. The students who join the project have to work for a morning to earn some money that will be given to charities. They also reflect about poverty and people’s exploitation during the meetings before and after the day of work.
Help-desk service is very common in Italy and it's offered also in our local area. The Rolando students help younger students to do their homework. Most of these children are immigrants or they have behavioral problems and poor school results, so they need help. It's a good opportunity for them because they can improve the language and feel integrated.
Playing sport in a football or volleyball school team can be a good way to interact and have fun. Every team have rules that must be observed and the players have to respect each other following these rules. I think that sport is not only entertainment but also a way to learn what respect is when you live together with others. It’s a good way to promote inclusion.
Exchanges are the most social experience and the most helpful but not everybody can afford to host a partner or pay the money to take art in them. However it is an experience that I recommend to do. Learning about other culture is useful to learn to respect it.
SPORT AND SOCIAL INCLUSION
Elena Oliver IIS Rolando da Piazzola, Piazzola sul Brenta (ITALY)
I think sport as well as being important to the participants’ physical and mental health, physical activity can also be very valuable in social inclusion and integration. Sport teaches us how to work in a team, it promotes tolerance, respect for others, cooperation, loyalty and friendship.
Team sport is a great model in which to learn the basics in working into a team format. By working together as a part of a group with a common goal, things that an individual can’t reach on their own can be finally possible. The capacity of sport to create links between humans and communities is another factor that helps to link people of different origins, different religions or cultures.
In my opinion sport is important especiallyin the life of a person with a disability. This is because the rehabilitative sport can have influence not only on the physical health but also on reintroducing people with a disability into society. Furthermore, sport teaches independence.
In the place where I go swimming in Piazzola sul Brenta I’ve known a girl who has physical problems. She had a car accident five years ago and she had to have her leg amputated. I asked her if sport had relieved her in some way. She said that sport helped to ‘forget’ the accident and to feel finally free. She also made some new friends there who now help her in a lot of things.
Immigration is a factor that touches us in a particular way nowadays, especially here in Italy. Thousands of refugees escape from Syria every day to try and have a better life here in Europe. I think sport is a way to welcome these people and to try to make them feel integrated and at home.
Sport should be encouraged in schools and should be practiced also in our free time. Unfortunately nowadays in our society to practice sports you need to belong to some sporting associations, hence, an expense for the family. Local councils should provide adequate and safe spaces so that everyone, also from poorer backgrounds can enjoy sport. Sport can be done outside, in a public garden where children or teenagers can meet and play football, basketball, cricket…
In my village for example, a football field has been built where everyone can access and play a game, no matter if you are rich or poor.
All in all, participation in sports is extremely important, and should be encouraged much more. I think that also thanks to sport we could finally learn to accept the “different” and to open our minds to different cultures which we can learn to know and to appreciate.
SOCIAL INCLUSION OF PEOPLE FROM OTHER COUNTRIES
George Petrea IIS Rolando da Piazzola, Piazzola sul Brenta (ITALY)
Social inclusion right now is one of the hottest topics. Thanks to globalization people can travel much more and it's easier for those with economical difficulties to change country, in order to improve their lifestyle. Anyway it's never too easy for foreigners to get acclimatized in a new country, so we interviewed some of them about the various problems they encountered when they first moved here to Italy.
The main problem at the beginning is the lack of knowledge of the local language. This is the first big issue that foreigners meet the first time they arrive in a new country, because when you don't know the language you can't communicate with others so you are cast out of the society and it can be really stressful.
Another problem our interviewed people met when they moved to another country was the local bureaucracy. When somebody goes to another country for the first time, they don't know exactly what the rules are and how they have to behave in order to be bureaucratically regular regarding the identity cards, sanitary services and taxes to pay.
Lastly, another difficulty people had is that in a new country you basically start from zero and you are like a newborn. This problem is both given by the lack of knowledge of the language and by some stereotypes people have about your native country, because it's much harder for local people and institutions to rely on you. For example, if you don't have some references it's hard to get a bank account or a house because people don't know you so they are quite suspicious.
We tried to find out some solutions for these three main problems and we all agreed on one thing: it would be much easier for foreigners if local institutions organized some meetings for people coming from the same country where they can attend some lessons so they can learn the local language in a faster way. These meetings would be good also to encourage communication in order to help each other on the other problems they can meet. At the moment we don't have this kind of institutions in our local area but we think it should be the first of many steps which can help avoiding social exclusion.