ShutterstockAfter 13 years of school, Selma Jenvin-Steinwag and her classmate Axel were running to catch the subway in Oslo in red overalls. “Then all our written exams will be taken,” said the 18 -year -old Selma.
The view of the school leaves known here as RussianWalking around in colored overalls is something like an age tradition that brightens the weeks before the Norway National Day on May 17th.
This marks the day Russian Finally, they can relax after their exams and make a final party. But to increase the number of young Norwegians, the parties start weeks earlier, long before their exams are completed.
And there is one country to the festivities that are increasingly worrying parents and politicians – Russian busS
“This is a party bus! We go out every night for a month. We get drunk, we party with our friends and it's just fun!” says 19-year-old Edward Anestad, who graduates from the west side of Oslo.
The fear is that during all weeks of coupons, as well as the pressure of peers, they have a detrimental effect on the overall well -being of teenagers as well as their grades.
A little wealth is often spent on hiring buses and catching up with them and many school lists go into debt to pay for it all.
“A Russian bus He drives all night from around midnight to early morning. We really play, really loud music and a party all night, “says Edward's friend, Henrik Way, who is 18 years old.
Along with all the entertainment, there are complaints that the festivities lead to strong drinking, drug use and a little sleep. There are also fears that many teenagers feel abandoned because they cannot afford costs.
And all this is currently the same with the exam period.
AlamPrime Minister Jonas Gahr Shop said last year that he was also enjoying his graduation, but the party bus culture had deviated out of control.
His intervention followed years of public debate, with objections from the authorities, as well as many of the school list and their parents.
“We are worried about some negative trends in our schools and neighborhoods and within the Norwegian youth culture as a whole,” says Solveig Haukenes Aase, whose oldest child ends this year.
Her two younger children are yet to start high school, and she complains that the culture also affects the younger teenagers: “In recent years, it has also begun to influence high school children.”
Together with other parents, she set up a group aimed at more westernly the environment for young people.
“Early the attitude of the school authorities was that it was a private question that Russian The holiday is something that happens in your spare time, “she told the BBC.
“But there is a change in mentality among teachers, principals and school authorities and it is now widely recognized that the new Russian Culture has a huge impact on the school environment. “
Norway Minister Carrie Nortun said it was “a problem for many years, that the festivities and the scales have been intertwined.”
She told the BBC that school list had experienced difficulty in concentrating exams because of the coupons and that the results were reduced because of it.
“The celebration has also become a highly commercialized and exclusive, and we see that these negative effects spread to the lower high school.
“We want to put an end to social exclusion, the pressure of peers and the high costs for many young people. We are now working to create a new and more inclusive celebration of graduation.”
The plan now is to ensure that the next year the festivities have been moved in the period after rapes.
The tradition of the party bus dates from Oslo in the early 1980s and tends to be more common among some of the more elite schools.
But now he has become national on scale and Ivar Brandol, who has written about the tradition, believes that the whole meaning of the bus has already changed, so that the bus festivities no longer include the whole school class, but a more selected group instead.
“Another change is the amount of money you need to be part of the bus group. Some of the bus groups will have a budget of up to 3 million KRONE (£ 220,000), even if they decide to hire it simply,” he says.
“Sound systems are delivered from all over Europe. To pay the bills, groups will often sell toilet paper to friends, family and neighbors for a little profit. But children have to sell tons of toilet paper to earn enough and usually ultimately use savings and expire in debt.”
In Norway, there is a broad acceptance that the party bus culture of schools should be scaled back.
The government is also worried about the potential risks to the safety of teenagers as they dance on buses moving around at night.
“We want the graduating class this year to be the last class to be allowed to use converted seats targeting side roads and a standing room while driving,” says John-Ivar Nigard, the Minister of Transport of Norway. “We can no longer send our young people on dangerous buses.”
For many promising schools in Norway, the government's plan goes too far.
“The government wants to take away side seats on buses and just have group seating. I think it's the wrong way,” complains Edward Anestad.
And when it comes to dealing with the problems of bus involvement, he and his friend Henrik believe that the authorities are taking the wrong approach.
Only half of the 120 school list during his year were part of the party group and they agree that part of the reason is the high price.
But the two young men say they have spent years planning their celebrations, even getting a job on the side to pay for the whole experience.
“This will not help to deal with the exclusion,” warns Edward, who points out that the ban on some of the buses will mean that there will be less buses to go around. “If nothing else, it's the opposite, so it's the wrong way.”