"Nineteen-year-old Hege is stricken by all the common anxieties of her generation. She spends too much time scrolling through socials on her phone, and as a result she is obsessed with how other people perceive her, and highly stressed when it comes to interacting with real humans in the flesh. I think a lot about what people think about me, she says. You get tired of it."
"Hege is one of the three teenage protagonists of Folktales, a new documentary that proposes a refreshingly simple remedy for zoomer angst: Give yourself a fire, a dog, and the starry sky above you. So says one of the teachers at the educational establishment where Hege and her classmates are packed off to for 12 months: a folk high school in Pasvik in the northernmost corner of Europe, 200 miles above the Arctic circle."
"Hege may still be overthinking things when she dons a pair of RayBans at her first campfire, but soon she goes hours without even remembering to check her mobile, and eventually there is nothing greater in the world to her than dashing through the snow on the back of a dog sled, her body racing but her mind finally standing still."
Hege, a 19-year-old from Sandnes, experiences intense social-media anxiety and obsession with others' perceptions, leading to stress in face-to-face interactions. She attends a 12-month folk high school in Pasvik, above the Arctic Circle, where students learn wilderness skills such as pitching tents, staying warm at −30C, and dog-sledding. The program emphasizes practical self-reliance, long stretches away from phones, and immersion in nature, which reduces Hege's checking behavior and calms her mind. The approach contrasts with education systems focused on testing and measurable outcomes, offering experiential learning that prioritizes personal growth and resilience.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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