No child safe from sinister cult of emo

Floh · May 15, 2008

This is terrifying! young people are at huge risk.

There is, though, growing concern that there is a deeply unhealthy undertone to the emo movement.
Some time before her death, Hannah's parents, who live in Kent, noticed scarring on the inside of her wrists.
When they questioned her about it, honest and open as ever, she told them she'd inflicted the wounds herself and that it was part of an emo "initiation ceremony".
Only after her death would they discover how she had secretly chatted online to emo followers all over the world, talking about death and of the "black parade" a place where emos believe they go after they die.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=566481&in_page_id=1879

luthersmama · May 15, 2008

No kidding.

Many of us on this board have been through this with our teens. My daughter seems to be "over" it now, but we had a rough time.

AmandaBrown23 · May 15, 2008

This stuff scares me, I have 3 kids and one of them is bound to give me hell, hopefully its not like this though/

GlitchWizard · May 15, 2008

I think emo is harmless to normal, healthy and happy kids - but it seems when you couple emo with depression, it spirals out of control. At least that is what I've witnessed with it in the Tallahassee area.

I have to say... when I first read the title, I thought it said ELMO!

Floh · May 15, 2008

GlitchWizard said:
I think emo is harmless to normal, healthy and happy kids - but it seems when you couple emo with depression, it spirals out of control. At least that is what I've witnessed with it in the Tallahassee area.

I have to say... when I first read the title, I thought it said ELMO!

It mentions in the story it's regarded as a transatlantic cult. i'd never heard of it before.

i think you have something when you say emo is harmless to normal, healthy and happy kids - but it seems when you couple emo with depression, it spirals out of control.

southcitymom · May 15, 2008

GlitchWizard said:
I think emo is harmless to normal, healthy and happy kids - but it seems when you couple emo with depression, it spirals out of control. At least that is what I've witnessed with it in the Tallahassee area.

I have to say... when I first read the title, I thought it said ELMO!

I agree with you, Glitch. Teens try on all sorts of styles, attitudes, beliefs and personalities. That is a normal and necessary part of self discovery. Emo, on its surface, is not bothersome - but, like any movement, it can draw in the disenfranchised in a very unhealthy way.

Do you remember EMO Spiderman from Spidey 3? That always makes me chuckle.

pixies · May 15, 2008

Oh yes, good ol' Emo. It is this generations "goth" kids.

My favorite t-shirt says
"I wish my grass was emo so it would cut itself"

Nothing wrong with the emo kids that hasn't been wrong in other subcultures of teens from years ago. It is just a trend.

As a recovering "goth chick" living the American dream in sunlight I can tell ya, it will pass out of favor just like hair bands and grunge.

JanetElaine · May 15, 2008

GlitchWizard said:
I have to say... when I first read the title, I thought it said ELMO!

Haha, me too. I was all 'what the heck is it now'... lol.

I think one of the comments on the newspaper link says it all:
Yes, it's tragic that this young girl has lost her life, but attaching blame to a phenomenon that reflects the depression - not causes it, is senseless.

Exactly my thoughts.

And the 'cult' part is just the Daily Mail babbling, IMO. They call it a 'transatlantic import' because emo has been going on in the states for much longer, and a 'sinister cult' because, well IMO, it makes their story sound good.
Emo is just the same stuff different name that has been going on since I was a teen (25 years ago), right down to the skateboards and skater shoes. I knows kids who 'are emo' now. It's just teen 'grouping'.

I sure would keep an eye on my daughter if she turned emo by the way, because choosing that to me indicates she *has been* feeling emotional and gloomy.
Is there a non-gloomy equivalent of emo? Back then we had 'punk' and 'new wave' in that genre. Punk was more wild and happy, and new wave (later turned goth) was emo really. But everyone still kind of looked the same. lol

missacorah · May 16, 2008

Yes im not sure its just an EMO thing.

It seems at my daughters school that it almost gets you some sort of weird respect of you self harm. Kids at my daughters school are forever 'showing off' marks on their wrists like some sort of trophy - I thought if you were really feeling depressed enough to want to do that to yourself you would hide it, not brag about it? Maybe Im confused!

Floh · May 16, 2008

missacorah said:
Yes im not sure its just an EMO thing.

It seems at my daughters school that it almost gets you some sort of weird respect of you self harm. Kids at my daughters school are forever 'showing off' marks on their wrists like some sort of trophy - I thought if you were really feeling depressed enough to want to do that to yourself you would hide it, not brag about it? Maybe Im confused!

I'm confused about 'trophy cuts'.

Jeana (DP) · May 16, 2008

luthersmama said:
No kidding.

Many of us on this board have been through this with our teens. My daughter seems to be "over" it now, but we had a rough time.

My son had a friend who tried to be "emo" for about a week. He had put some black tape over the cut he made on his own hand and when my son asked him about it, he said he did it because "it looks cool." My son said oh no it doesn't, it looks stupid. The friend gave it up soon after. Kids do seem to have a lot to deal with these days, but there have got to be better ways to deal with it than cutting.

Linda7NJ · May 16, 2008

okay...I know I'm old but what the hell is EMO?:waitasec:

curious1 · May 16, 2008

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

GlitchWizard said:
snip...
I have to say... when I first read the title, I thought it said ELMO!

Oh that was good. And no Elmo is not the bad, evil one that's Barney.

SheWhoMustNotBeNamed · May 16, 2008

missacorah said:
Yes im not sure its just an EMO thing.

It seems at my daughters school that it almost gets you some sort of weird respect of you self harm. Kids at my daughters school are forever 'showing off' marks on their wrists like some sort of trophy - I thought if you were really feeling depressed enough to want to do that to yourself you would hide it, not brag about it? Maybe Im confused!

It's been my experience that the ones that brag about it and show off the scars are just doing it to be part of the scene. The ones that are truly depressed and self-harm for that reason will typically hide it more often.

curious1 · May 16, 2008

Linda7NJ said:
okay...I know I'm old but what the hell is EMO?:waitasec:

Middle class kids who whine about how bad they have it and write songs about going to the mall and finding out Hot Topic is out of their favorite pair of black skinny jeans and the guys wear 'guyliner'. I think that about sums it up. Southpark did a great episode where Stan went all Emo.

southcitymom · May 16, 2008

curious1 said:
Middle class kids who whine about how bad they have it and write songs about going to the mall and finding out Hot Topic is out of their favorite pair of black skinny jeans and the guys wear 'guyliner'. I think that about sums it up. Southpark did a great episode where Stan went all Emo.

Yep - that about covers it, but I missed that SouthPark. I'll have to go hunt it down. Here's wiki's take: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo_(slang)

southcitymom · May 16, 2008

curious1 said:
:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

Oh that was good. And no Elmo is not the bad, evil one that's Barney.

No, no - it's the Teletubbies - I'm pretty certain they were sent here straight from the 7th circle of Hell.

curious1 · May 16, 2008

southcitymom said:
No, no - it's the Teletubbies - I'm pretty certain they were sent here straight from the 7th circle of Hell.

:waitasec: Well, you certainly could be right about that one. I often wondered, what with the 'gay' one and all. :crazy:

I often equate EMO with a kid who was over indulged and use to getting his/her way when they were younger by holding their breath until they turned blue. It's all just a big temper tantrum IMHO.

pixies · May 16, 2008

curious1 said:
:waitasec: Well, you certainly could be right about that one. I often wondered, what with the 'gay' one and all. :crazy:

I often equate EMO with a kid who was over indulged and use to getting his/her way when they were younger by holding their breath until they turned blue. It's all just a big temper tantrum IMHO.

agreed

kline · May 17, 2008

My two sons are musicians 'EMO' is pretty much a punch line with most of the young peopel they know,pretty much a joke.
I doubt its going to have much longevity beyond a music industry marketing ploy.

No child safe from sinister cult of emo

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