An old tradition in the Nordic countries went viral in recent days. The user of the TikTok social network Olly Bowman, an Australian living in Norway, showed how parents in that country leave their babies alone in the street in their strollers, with freezing temperatures and without any kind of adult supervision.
In the film, the 22-year-old is heard saying: “Another day in Norway, another group of babies left alone in the cold. Look how many there are. Nah, but it helps with their breathing and makes them more independent. Actually, that’s why so many people leave home earlier in Norway than in other countries”while showing a street corner with several strollers with children inside.
This is a custom that has been installed in that part of the world for many years. It began at the beginning of the 20th century, when after a tuberculosis epidemic in Iceland, parents took the habit of leaving their children outdoors, because many houses had very poor ventilation, and thus avoid contagion of the disease. This tradition was installed among the citizens of Norway, Denmark and Iceland. In addition, they ensure that this method strengthens the immune system of children.
But not only because of the cold -from which children are absolutely protected due to the coat since the strollers are designed to be outdoors-, but Internet users were surprised by the trust in strangers, since infants are all alone on the outskirts of the shops.
The video with more than 14 million views received all kinds of comments: “Don’t they kidnap babies in Norway? My anxiety”; “The issue is not the cold, the incredible thing is the security they have that no one is going to kidnap them”; “The cold is the least of it! It gives me a heart attack to see them alone”.
However, the locals do not suffer from this possibility since the Nordic countries have the lowest kidnapping rate in the world, being 0.02 per thousand inhabitants in a year.
Look at the video: