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Samantha Singletary

Mr. John Teutsch

Engl102-9SP10

15 March 2010

The Emo Error

Tight jeans. Eyeliner. Dark hair. Somber demeanor. This is what I was from 6th until 8th

grade. I was the typical “emo” kid. I was battling issues with my past and these emotions could

best be seen in my dress, in my music, and in my apathetic tone of voice. I grew out of that stage

when I began to find a group that I could fit in to. There are still hints of my “emo” days when I

see my black-and-white checkered pants or Jack Skellington t-shirts, but all-in-all, those days are

over. The friends I had when I was “emo” were just like me, but we never would have dared to

hurt ourselves more than by total accident. Now, there seems to be a trend of a self-harm

stereotype that “emo” carries with its definition. This cannot be solely an “emo” characteristic.

Having experienced “emo,” but not the harm, I can fully agree that self-harm is in fact a false

stereotype, and like most stereotypes, it can be easily disproved when presented with facts. Self-

harm is not a characteristic, self-harm is the result of psychiatric issues that youth today face.

Recent “studies reject that music is a causal factor and suggest that music

preference is more indicative of emotional vulnerability” (Baker 284). These

false accusations have arisen from the outer society, the media, and the parents of the affected

“emo” teenage suicides.

I am use to hearing the statement that it is easy to judge a book by its cover. The hard part

is once the book is read, that dirty cover might just be a disguise to a story that is one-of-a-kind.

The same goes for judging people by looking at their outward appearance.
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“Samantha, a no-nonsense Long Island-based 20-year-old college student who

works part-time, lives at home, and thinks emo is for losers, says: ‘They are

middle-class suburban kids with all the opportunities everyone else has but they

take the littlest thing and get all devastated over it in a very melodramatic way.

Every little problem is like a gigantic deal and they are creating these devastating

scenarios for themselves’” (Kirsch par. 11).

But what if these “littlest things” were not such easily forgettable issues? In the Sunday

Tasmanian, a paper which hails out of Hobart, an “emo” boy by the name of Che was

interviewed by Angus Hohenboken. Che said, “Most of the reasons some Emos are suicidal is

because they’ve been picked on all their lives or because of past trauma” (Hohenboken par. 7).

No one can see into someone else’s past. It is like stating the simple truth that, “No one knows

me better than myself, and what I decide that I want to share with others about me.” Emo

stereotypes such as the one brought up by Samantha are indicators that an outside view is only a

small glimpse into the whole dynamic person. What these outside views lack though is the

knowledge of the past that these most times misunderstood kids go through. These kids may

have a depression problem or a more serious issue that cannot be resolved due to a lack of outlets

or even a lack of courage to share. These “emo” kids should not be shunned by the outside world

as misfits or losers, but rather they should be welcomed and accepted. By this welcome from the

outer society, there may be a chance to clear up these misguided assumptions and give these kids

a chance to communicate before any further ideas of suicide are formed.

The main culprit for many of today’s stereotypes is due to the misinformed media. Our

truth in the constant hustle and bustle of today’s society can be found in the newspaper, on

television, or most commonly, online. But is the news always telling the truth? “Emo glorifies
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self harm and romanticises death, according to the paper” (Boyd par. 7). This is a headline that is

found throughout mostly United Kingdom and Australian news due to the recent unexplained

suicides of young “emo” teenagers. However, this is not a characteristic of the “emo” subculture

as stated by Baker, “Results showed that deliberate selfharm and attempted

suicide were associated with those that identified with the Goth youth

subculture” (286). This is because of the involvement in the listening of

medieval, techno, and heavy metal is unique to the Goth culture. An “emo”

music choice would feature a rather emotional outlet, “usually associated

with relationship break-ups or other tragic events” (Baker 285). A fourteen year

old fan that was protesting The Daily Mail stated this, “‘I’ve read a couple of the Daily Mail

articles and they’ve actually misquoted lyrics and the research was so badly done, it was

unbelievable. I actually thought the story was a hoax when I found it on the internet’” (Boyd par.

10). By taking in accordance the fact that both the song lyrics were misquoted and the research

was bad, then this “true” headline generated by the media is one that does not deserve the time to

be argued against. If there is to be an argument, then there needs to be well-researched reason as

to why this “emo” movement is on that supposedly “glorifies self-harm”. Until this is done, what

can be believed to be truth from the media could possibly be nothing more than paper to pen

without well conducted research, thought, or background.

The parents of these “emo” suicidal teenagers love to play the blame game when it comes

to the suicide of their own child. Hannah Bond, a thirteen year old girl from Kent, was found

dead in her bedroom by her mother in 2007. The parents immediately blamed her involvement in

“emo” music as the killer. But how can music have that profound of a motive, a motive to

ultimately kill? In the article about Hannah Bond, there were many interesting words said by her
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parents. “A few weeks before she died, Hannah’s parents raised concerns with her about cuts on

her wrists. But Hannah told them it was part of an initiation and, Mr. Bond said, ‘she promised

she would never do it again’” (Fletcher par. 6). In this same article her mother talked of how

Hannah was a normal girl. A normal child cuts their wrists and blames the scars on an “initiation

ceremony”? She also stated that her daughter had many friends, but Mrs. Bond must have not

been vigilant of the friends Hannah Bond was around. The most complicated part of a teenage

girl’s development, is the fact that she must identify with a group of friends that share the same

feelings, beliefs, and ideas as with her own self. This causes much stress to the teenager, and

talking to their parents about their inability to fit in is a subject that cannot always be easily

talked about. Upon the discovery of the cuts on Hannah Bond’s wrists, her parents should have

thrown up the red flag. Even if this was an act to identify with a group of youth, there should

have been knowledge that there was more to these cuts. When a child forces a sharp object to

their skin knowingly, the child is either severely mentally impaired or sees that there is an outlet

through this shedding of blood. The families much realize that the most important part of having

a child is being able to listen to them, and the child must not fear the judgment of their parents

because of the true, even though morbid, feelings. Until this is realized, the blame will continue

to be passed around the table, always making the easiest way out with “emo”.

When considering the outer society, one can see that there is a discrepancy between those

who experience “emo” first-hand, and those who simply see the “emo” outer appearance. By

welcoming these kids and allowing them to share what their problems consist of, there may be a

line of communication saving them from possible suicide. When considering the media, one can

see that research done poorly is research that should be taken as erroneous and flawed fallacy.

When considering the parental view, one can see that their fault cannot be put on their own self,
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but rather thrown to “emo” in an easier method, blame. By taking these false accusations and

correcting the issues, one can see that self-harm is not a stereotype of mainly “emo” children.

This self-harm epidemic is one that reaches further in complexity than a type of attire of a small

percentage of teenage youth. In closing, I will make this final point. “The American

Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry already recommends

psychiatric assessment for adolescents who show a preoccupation with

music containing destructive themes such as suicide” (Baker 287).

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Works Cited

Baker, Felicity, and William Bor. "Can music preference indicate mental health status in young

people?." Australasian Psychiatry 16.4 (2008): 284-288. Academic Search Complete.

EBSCO. Web. 16 Mar. 2010.

Boyd, Brian. “Save the children from this dangerous hair-gel cult now.” Irish Times 06 June

2008: Newspaper Source. EBSCO. Web. 10 March 2010.

Fletcher, Hannah. “Girl, 13, hanged herself after becoming obsessed with ‘emo’.” Times, The

(United Kingdom) n.d.: Newspaper Source. EBSCO. Web. 10 March 2010.

Hohenboken, Angus. “Self-mutilation ‘going too far’.” Sunday Tasmanian (Hobart) (n.d.):

Newspaper Source. EBSCO. Web. 10 March 2010.

Kirsch, Michelle. “Emotionally challenged.” Times, The (United Kingdom) n.d.:

Newspaper Source. EBSCO. Web. 10 March 2010.