Milazzo is a very famous tourist destination because there are amazing places to visit. There is the castle, the Aeolian Islands, Capo Milazzo ( which is a marine riserve) and lots of other things to see.

Since there are so many nice places to visit, tourism is very developed and increases mostly at the end of the spring and in the summer.

In Milazzo there are a lot of restaurants and shops, which hired teenagers during the tourist season to work. But now the owners find it difficult to find staff. They offer room and board and a good salary, but still nobody wants to work it seems.

In an interview of “Gazzetta del Sud” (a local newspaper) many potential employees said they prefer to stay at home and get government assistance because they are exploited. But what about teenagers? Do they want to work?

According to employers, teenagers want to be well-paid but some of them don’t think about the fact that they don’t have skills such as speaking several languages. Teens also request too much, for example having all Saturdays off so they can go out, or on Sundays they want to get up late or go to the sea and these are the days when there are the majority of the tourists.

Obviously lots of owners of restaurants and stores take advantage of this period of economic crisis and exploit the youth and adults too. If people work for hours for a miserable salary it is granted that they prefer to stay at home and have the citizenship income.

We decided to find out for ourselves and interviewed some students from our school and asked three of them to talk to us about their summer jobs. Here’s what they said:

Davide (4CL), worked with a representative of Barbera Caffe from Monday to Thursday, from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. He didn’t earn much but in his opinion it was a good experience.

He learnt so many things from this job, for example how to deal with customers and people in general. He liked this experience but if he had the possibility, he would like to work as a waiter or bartender.

Giovanna (4CL)worked in a local bar all summer long from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., from Tuesday to Saturday and sometimes on Sunday. She didn’t like it because of the excessive hours – above all when she worked on Saturday and Sunday because there were a lot more customers -, also some of her coworkers were unfriendly, and the pay was poor – even if she worked 12 hours per day.She didn’t learn much but one thing that she did learn was how to deal with customers.

She said that she will of course work another time in summer but will try another job like being a shop assistant or waitress in a restaurant.

Finally, we talked to Giorgia (4CL), who worked in her parents’ place (lucky her!), the wages were fair and the working conditions were good not only for the money earned but also for the good relationships with colleagues.

From this experience she learnt how to deal with older people and have so much patience. She says that if she has the chance, she will do this job again.

SO what can we say… there are positive and negative sides. We need experience, and some pocket money is useful to be independent and there are teens who are willing to work and make sacrifices.

Now you decide!!

This is all for now!

Tell us in the comments,have you ever worked during the summer holidays? Did you like it?

See you soon!

• Anita P. ,Annalisa B. , Alessandra G. , Elena I. , Giulia V.

IIAL

Milazzo has always been known for its wonderful beaches and its promontories. But of course, as in every other place, here too there’s the problem of pollution. There are lots of beaches visited every year by tourists and sometimes they are very disappointed because of the litter on the streets and on the reserves.

What has been done in the years to avoid the problem of pollution?

Online, you can see several articles about the efforts of lots of citizens over the years to make our city a better place. For example, some volunteers decided to contribute to reclaiming and cleaning of a path in Capo Milazzo. This way, it has been possible to save a part of a route that otherwise would have been impossible to cross.

Lately, the mayor of Milazzo put 25 containers for used clothes, and the best thing is that their positions are on Google Maps! So they are really easy to find and use everytime.

What about students and young people? What are they doing in the summer to reduce the problem of pollution?

On 14 August, 2021 a group of friends organised meetings to talk about the pollution problem in Milazzo and how to reduce it, proposing some ideas and alternatives. Then they went to the beaches and collected rubbish in huge plastic bags. Once they finished they were really surprised, but at the same time disappointed.

They said “We got together to try to remedy the problem of sea pollution. In a short time, we all understood the meaning of our small contribution; after a few hours we had already filled a huge amount of bags, and everything seemed to be unbelievable.”

Finally, they concluded by saying “Our intent is only to raise awareness among the population on the correct disposal of waste; we will organize new meetings and we will increasingly demonstrate our identity!”

And you? What could you do in your little way to help your country and your city?

Do the right thing like these guys !

P.S.: All the links we have used and added are in Italian.

Written by: Idaclizia Caruso & Anita Previte, IIAL

School

86% are satisfied about the school they attend and only 24% have thought about changing schools. The majority of students have a good or very good relationship with classmates. The majority of students rate their relationships with teachers as very good. However, 83% of candidates feel pressure because of school to the point they cannot study. A possible result of this figure could be the high number of students that suffer from anxiety. On a scale from 1 to 10 we can see that 60% suffer quite often from anxiety.

26% of students have worse grades and 20% are getting failing grades.

Tobacco Alcohol Drugs

The vast majority (94%) of students surveyed declared they did not smoke or (2%) have tried drugs like marijuana. However, 12% have said they have been pressured to take drugs, smoke or drink.

Family and Friends

Although 50% of students have a large group of friends, 56% sometimes feel excluded from this group. 44% think it’s important to have a few good friends and 92% have at least one person to confide in. 90% have had friends who were “fake”.

As far as family, on a scale of 1 to 5 86% rated their relationship with their family between 3 and 5. However, more than a third stated their family doesn’t listen to them and pay attention to feelings.

Relationships

64% of students have dated and the vast majority have had healthy relationships 87.8%. About half of the respondents have either chosen to break off a relationship or have been left. About 3 out of 4 students believe in the importance of relationships in the period of adolescence.

Violence and Safety

Many people also suffer from bullying and cyberbullying. In these cases, we must confide in adults. However, 37% of victims did not manage to speak about their aggression.

Emotions

During the period of adolescence there are mood swings many people suffer from. In fact as we can see from the questionnaire almost 70% say they change moods. 25% of respondents felt they had an eating disorder.

Future Goals

The results show that young people set themselves goals to reach. In fact 80% of adolescents already have future goals which range from going to university, to working abroad, writing a book, studying fine arts, languages, or psychology, going on an exchange trip, working in the medical field or in the police.

Conclusions

Overall, teens have a healthy relationship with school, peers and family. Bullying is still a major issue. However, the most alarming data is the number of students who suffer from anxiety. Perhaps this is linked to the effects of lockdown. Students must learn to face difficulties without fear of failure. The educational system must provide support when necessary through psychologists, and the help of teachers. Finally, it is important to support friends, as there are those who do not even have one person to confide in.

Authors: Cristian G. and Emanuele M.