Reporters in class! Inclusion in first place!

Now it’s taken for granted that everyone does sports. That wasn’t true in the past, because people with disabilities, different religions or races couldn’t do sports. The first Paralympics was held in Rome in 1960, alongside the traditional Olympics. Lots of things have changed since then, including pubic opinion of disability: now more importance is given to the rights of all individuals, and more money is spent in this sector. Viewpoints have changed in schools as well, and there are no longer any special classes in Italy. Last year, we in class 5B at the Matteotti school in Florence formed a cooperative and held two street markets. With the money earned we bought a ping-pong set and the school bought a table football. Our teachers realized that a blind girl unfortunately couldn’t play these games. Prof. Fossati, at a middle school, called to help us, and said we could borrow a Showdown table, and so now we can play, too, with our eyes covered with masks. Doing sports is good for you: the body needs to move. Scientists have shown that doing sports can extend your life and improve your health. Exercising lets you make new friends, and if you have fun you’re calmer and happier.

At times, some of us were unable to do sports because of an accident, and they were very unhappy. We understood that sports are better if everyone is included. A small group of our classmates interviewed Prof. Fossati, who teaches Physical Education at our school and also works at the F. Cavazza Institute in Bologna to help blind and visually-impaired people become more self-sufficient. Recently, Marco Ferrigno of Showdown Italia donated a table to our school for the inclusion of some visually-impaired children. Prof. Fossati explained that this is a game for everyone: blind, visually-impaired, and sighted. The most important rule is that you have to cover your eyes with a mask to prevent the eyelid opening reflex in sighted and visually-impaired people. Showdown is a rectangular table with edges, a tempered glass surface in the middle, and two goal nets at opposite sides of the table. You play with an audible ball, using a paddle to strike the ball and to defend your goal. Players wear a glove to protect their hand from being hit by the ball. The aim is to score 11 points; you score a point by getting the ball into your opponent’s net. The professor taught us the rules by letting us play. It was very tough, but also a lot of fun both to see and to do. You have to be absolutely silent while playing, because otherwise you risk not hearing the sound of the ball and getting distracted. This was a wonderful experience that we’d love to repeat.

This is a summary of class 5B’s article for the “Reporters in class” contest held by the Florentine newspaper “La Nazione.” Class 5B, Matteotti elementary school, won third prize! But of course, first prize went to inclusion.

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