Translator: Gisela Giardino
Reviewer: Sebastian Betti On my last vacation
I went to Barcelona with my mom. One day, we wanted to go
for a picnic in a park. She had been there before. So she told me,
"We take this subway, we make a connection here,
and we get off there." I didn't get one word! The only thing I knew
about Barcelona was Messi. So, I grabbed Google Maps
and looked for ways to get there. The first option that showed up
was a bus that took half the time. So I said, "Look, mom, this one goes
on a much shorter and faster route." She looked at it lightly and said: "No, we're going like I said." I was very upset; very frustrated. I didn't understand what had happened. And this is the helplessness I increasingly feel
for the last few years. To have the answer to some things
but not being able to use it. And not because I don't want to
but because I'm not allowed to. Let's look at it this way. On the one hand,
I have free access to information. So, having an Internet connection, I take out my phone
and in the blink of an eye I can know things such as, for example, how fast you should slap a chicken to cook it. (Laughter) Or how to get to a park
in an unknown city. And not only that,
I cannot be out of social networks or not have a cell phone. Because, sooner or later, I would be
out of date and out of everything. And on the other hand,
all this information hits a huge wall: Adults. For example, a few months ago
I wanted to go out cycling for the first time with my friends. And my parents wouldn't let me. "You're too young,
you still cannot do it." Too young for what? I don't know. I already knew how to ride a bike
and I had already googled how to get there and come back. And this is where my head explodes
because it goes into a loop. Having access to so much information I feel pressured, and even pushed,
to enter the adult world. It's like being told: "Well, champ,
your teenage years are over." But they don't give me
the right to decide either. So, that adolescence
that was about to end ends up becoming eternal. I understand that I lack experience. When my parents didn't let me
go out cycling I didn't listen to them
and I went with my friends. While riding our bikes,
a dog without a leash crossed our path. I almost stepped on it. Of course, I could never
have foreseen that. But I think my lack of experience doesn't justify a,
"You cannot because you're a kid," as the only answer. I think there's a new problem
in the relationship with adults. In the past, information
and the right to decide were to be found in one person. Now, there are times when I have as much or even more
information than they do. And I think that this should give
us young people the opportunity to take up
a place that we do not have today. Or give us more freedom
in making our own decisions. Something has to change. I don't know what
these changes will be like. Although, there are some things
that let me quite imagine where things are heading. For example, when we came back
from the Chemistry Olympics, my teacher proposed
three classmates and me to help her edit errors in the guide
and to invent new exercises, but, besides, the best thing was that she put our names in the guide
along with hers. What teacher would have done
something like that before? And at home, I'm starting
to get a different role, too. My dad, who is a lawyer, this year signed in
for a degree in Psychology. And he had to take Biology,
which is not his strong suit. Now, when he found out
that I was doing well in that subject, he told me: "Kid, until I know
what a prokaryote is, you won't leave home." (Laughter) And now, every time we sit
to study together, I feel like I'm with another schoolmate. I'm sure the relationship
with adults will change. You know why? Because when we went
to that park in Barcelona, we went on the subway like my mom said. But on the way back, we took the bus. (Applause)
