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How Norway fights prejudice and embraces diversity.

Norway is not a perfect country to live. Far from that. There’s a study that shows that one in every three persons suffers from psychological problems at some point in their life. Also the rate of suicide is high, specially among young men. However, and maybe because of those problems, Norwegian public and private sector has made efforts to accept and embrace all kinds of diversity.

September is mental health awareness month. That’s why I have decided to write this post. Possible causes for mental illnesses are the feeling of not belonging, of being cast aside, inadequateness, suffer prejudice, bullying, loneliness, among others. A recent research shows that many young Norwegians feel lonely, even those who have friends. The pandemic has also impacted these youngsters and all of us. I’d like to read your comments on this theme. Let’s check the topics:

Null Mobbing. There is a Law against bullying at schools and workplace. School employees are trained to prevent, recognize, take action when there’s early signs of bullying. Two Norwegians have made a song called Stopp, Ikke Mobb! You can listen to it here. It’s sung by children. The lyrics say: “Stop, don’t bull. This is a colleague of mine. Don’t mess, ‘cause my colleague is as good as gold. Here’s a bullying free territory.”

Integrating and accepting physical differences. The public tv station NRK Super, that is for kids, makes a yearly videoclip with kids, called Blime = Join us. Each year they make a different song, always including everyone. The lyrics include: “There’s room for all. You are unique and valuable exactly like you are. We’ll be a world that plays as a team.” The kids that participate include kids in wheel chair, etc.

GLSBT Gay Pride and parade takes place every year in the biggest cities. Gay marriage is legal in Norway.

Constitution of Norway contains clearly: No discrimination of race, religion, belief, political preference, sexual orientation, economy, etc.

Children are more used to classmates with foreign names and backgrounds. It’s the new normal. It’s becoming more natural for them than it was for their parents in the past. In general, I see Norwegians complimenting me for speaking my language of origin to my child, while the dad speaks only Norwegian. We see kids that are strong in both Norwegian and the parent’s language of origin, equally.

Travel. In the last decades, since Norway has become a rich country, Norwegians fly to the South coast of Europe in the Summer. They have traveled to Spain, Croatia, Turkey, Italy, Greece. Some retired people have bought apartments in those countries.

Food. Tacos and pizza have become Friday special among Norwegian families. Norwegians have become more open to international food. There’s international food festival in Stavanger, called Gladmat. It takes place every year, in June/July. You find delicious food made by natives from Eritrea, Brazil, etc. Thai and Chinese restaurants are also popular. Not to mention Sushi place that has got a Michelin star, also in Stavanger.

Imagem de OpenClipart-Vectors por Pixabay

TV Shows. There are tv series that show diversity and encourage inclusion. Norskish is about three immigrants from Iran and Pakistan that try to manage to live both cultures in Norway. Check my favorite Norwegian tv shows here. Skam has teenagers dealing with typical teenager problems, in a serious and deep way. Født i feil kropp supports kids that feel like belonging to the opposite sex.

We can watch on tv, every week, discussions on how to improve assistance to those who suffer from depression, etc, and what can be done to help the society to accept the differences. Last week there was a debate with political candidate Hadia Tajik. Check more about her here. She defends that those who need psychological help should be able to knock on the psychologist’s door and get help. I totally support her idea. Nowadays, the old law is that everybody needs to go thorough the family doctor first, and then get a recommendation. Mental health help phone number in Norway is: 116 123.

Law for internet influencers. In Norway, if an influencer posts a publi using effects like retouch and filter, the person must state it. It has to be specified that the image contains retouch and editing. That’s to prevent teenagers from believing that the fake image is true and a false image of “perfection”. I explain it on Instagram. Check it here.

Thanks for reading. Please share if you like the post.

Featured Image: Christoph Schlösser por Pixabay

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