Why no child is safe from the sinister cult of Emo

AuthorMessage
Sherlock Holmes
Addict
Sherlock Holmes
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 10375
May 20th, 2008 at 02:16pm
**NOTE: the topic title is a direct quote from The Daily Mail**

Sources -

soEMO
good old wiki ;]

and the startling news story of 13-year old Hannah Bond who hung herself from her bunk bed with a tie after becoming an "Emo".
The Daily Mail

I'll fill you in,

Recently a 13-year old girl Hannah Bond hung herself from her bunk bed, immediately her parents and the media blamed it on the growing 'emo' culture and pointed the fingure at such bands as Green Day, Blink-182 and My Chemical Romance.Magazines such as Kerrang! have stated that it is wrong to blame the music and not the parents, and even My Chemical Romance spoke out about the situation saying that "in no way do they glamorise suicide"

What I really want to know from you guys is this -

Do you think that it is wrong for the death of a 13-year old girl to be blamed entirly on her music taste and the so called 'emo' culture? Or is the Daily Mail being biased? And not looking at the raw facts? Also should the 'emo' culture be banned from schools and other such places in a bid to boycot this growing fad?

Please don't just post your views on 'Labels' - for that please use this board;
Are Labels Really For Soup Cans?
Verbatim.
King For A Couple Of Days
Verbatim.
Age: 102
Gender: Female
Posts: 3281
May 20th, 2008 at 04:23pm
Well, I think it is wrong to entirely place the blame on music and the 'emo' lifestyle. Nobody except Hannah knows really why she hung herself. It could've been anything really, something her parents might not have known about. But I think as parents, they are bound to jump to a conclusion like that, because they don't want to believe that their daughter was going through some sort of personal trouble and didn't talk to them about it. It's natural for them to do that.

But on the other hand, she was a young girl. Many 13 year olds are very naive and impressionable, and so the 'glamourised' view of suicide and death which is promoted in some music could have almost a brainwashing effect on someone like her. I don't really believe that any right minded teenager would be tempted into suicide by music, but music is a great mood changer, so you never know.

And on 'banning' the emo culture, I think that would be completely impossible. You'd have to ban the clothes they wear, the music they listen to and even the person's values and beliefs, which is totally impossible. You'd have to cut off all connections with the media and basically run some sort of dictatorship among them, and that's obviously not going to happen.

But yes, I think reasons for her death should be investigated far further than "oh she was an emo kid". Thousands of young people commit suicide, and not all of them are 'emo'.
suzie_k
Falling In Love With The Board
suzie_k
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Posts: 8288
May 20th, 2008 at 04:30pm
Her father knew she had cut herself.
That shoudl have set something off.
Ok so she said it was part of being initiated into the "emo cult" but should a father take and answer like that and accept it?
That should have set of alarm bells. He should have done something about it there and then.
I'm not saying that this wouldn't have happened but it may have helped.
I know she also suposedly had had an arguement with her parents before she did it. I know thats not reason to hang yourself but if you are in a frantic state of mind anything will set you off.
But I highly doubt it was the music that made her kill herself.
When people don't know who to blame they pick an easy target. And the "emo cult" was just that.
But this is where screening for mental heath come into play.
As soon as her father saw that she had cut he should have done something about it not just accepted it was part of the "emo fashion"
rise above
Shoot Me, I'm A Newbie
rise above
Age: -
Gender: -
Posts: 17
May 20th, 2008 at 06:04pm
I think that the "emo culture" is being used as a scapegoat here. I really doubt anyone could possibly want to commit suicide simply from hearing a certain form of music (I'll hold back on making a joke about them killing themselves because the music sucked so much). However, if this girl was really influenced by music to kill herself, then there was clearly something wrong. I mean, I would assume most sane humans wouldn't want to end their because of the music their into.

But really, I think this article is a load of crap. "Suicide Cult Rock?" Give me a break here. Most modern "emo" is hardly violent compared to other forms of music. If these people really think that of My Chemical Romance, I'd love to see their reaction to a Slayer album.
fancy pants
Post Whore
fancy pants
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 22225
May 20th, 2008 at 08:47pm
The music, the clothes and whatever else has nothing to do with it. Listening to a song isn't going to make someone want to kill themselves (unless it's Michael Bolton, or something, maybe). And listening to a song isn't going to turn someone into a mass murderer (Manson and Columbine, anyone?).
Rocker Chic
King For A Couple Of Days
Rocker Chic
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 2001

Blog
May 20th, 2008 at 10:16pm
I don't think clothes or music or anything like that can be blamed for someone killing themselves. She did it because she obviously had issues. You can't blame a band on that, I'm sorry. She most likely had problems before she became "emo". I mean, there are "preps" who cut themselves! Your status has nothing to do with your medical condition.
Macfadyen
Basket Case
Macfadyen
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 16175
May 21st, 2008 at 12:20am
The "emo scene" does encourage suicide, to an extent. I'm not talking about the music or the clothing. I mean the actual scene, with the little 12 year old posers who dramatize their lives.
The fact is, a lot of people to begin to cut themselves because of a scene. That can be applied to suicide, easily. If you're into the whole "emo scene", you're surrounded by a lot of dramatization, talk of depression, how shitty life is, etc. I believe that it's human nature to always see situations as being bad for us, and this basically just... encourages it and makes the kids think their lives are actually really terrible.

I am in no way saying that we should all just blame the "emo scene". She almost definitely had other reasons, but the scene can really help to escalate the whole suicide situation.
PaNcAkEs
Jackass
PaNcAkEs
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 1808

Blog
May 21st, 2008 at 02:39am
well, its kinda lame to blame(rhyme) the music someone listens to, although sometimes the lyrics can fuck with your brain. But it could also be, that she, Hannah, was easily affected by things and thus let it all get to her head and eventually lead to her death. Tbh, emo isn't really a sub-culture, well, a little, it was, isn't anymore, now its just these 12-13-year-olds who wear black, tonns of eyeliner, you know the story, and think they're "emo", oh yeah, listen to the so-called "emo" bands too. Tbh, My Chem isn't emo, they're punk-ish. They stand out 'cause they're a bit different. About Blink-182, dude, they're like, skate-punk, no way are they "emo". And anyone on this board can say that Green Day ain't emo. I'd understand if she was listening to, idno, underoath or from first to last(mind you, i listen to both, but not that often, its not that bad), maybe then. But yeah, music is supposed to get you over your problems and help you, not make you commit suicide. Its release. If those people blame the music, they obviously missed the whole concept of music itself.
Sherlock Holmes
Addict
Sherlock Holmes
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 10375
May 21st, 2008 at 12:36pm
rise above:
I think that the "emo culture" is being used as a scapegoat here. I really doubt anyone could possibly want to commit suicide simply from hearing a certain form of music (I'll hold back on making a joke about them killing themselves because the music sucked so much). However, if this girl was really influenced by music to kill herself, then there was clearly something wrong. I mean, I would assume most sane humans wouldn't want to end their because of the music their into.

But really, I think this article is a load of crap. "Suicide Cult Rock?" Give me a break here. Most modern "emo" is hardly violent compared to other forms of music. If these people really think that of My Chemical Romance, I'd love to see their reaction to a Slayer album.


I couldn't agree more,
like most of you have said on here I think that the media was too quick to point the finger and without looking at other things that could have triggerd it i.e - the agrument (which they lightly touched upon) the simply jumped on the band wagon (no pun intended)
suicide.
Shoot Me, I'm A Newbie
suicide.
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 48
May 21st, 2008 at 12:55pm
I hate it how as soon as something bad happens to a child they blame it on music. All my teenage years, my parents would blame my "rebelous behaviour" on the music that I listened to. For example, I had loads and loads of Green Day stuff on my walls, and one day when I came back from vacation, they had ripped everything down because it was "the devils music". From my own experiance, I think people should look a little deeper before pointing the finger.
Matt Smith
Admin
Matt Smith
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 31134

Mibba Blog
May 21st, 2008 at 02:29pm
Well I don't know what any of you expected from that article.

Alarmist? Biased? Extreme?
This can only be the one and only Daily Mail.

So I wouldn't take it to heart tbh.
Sherlock Holmes
Addict
Sherlock Holmes
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 10375
May 21st, 2008 at 02:37pm
The Daily Mail is aload of toff,
it's really gone down hill.
The Sun's well better...
Peardrops
Addict
Peardrops
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 11782

Blog
May 21st, 2008 at 03:54pm
When was The Daily Mail ever uphill?

When I read that emo's believe "The Black Parade" is somewhere where they will go when they die, I had to go and find someone to ask if it was true. I've never laughed so hard in my entire life.

The story in itself though is sad but not original. People have been blaming Marilyn Manson for school shootings and whatnot for years. I agree with what's been said already, the emo culture is a bit of a scapegoat and is a way for people to pretend there wasn't a real problem.
NeoSteph
Basket Case
NeoSteph
Age: 36
Gender: Female
Posts: 16494

Mibba Blog
May 21st, 2008 at 03:59pm
Bloodraine:
Well I don't know what any of you expected from that article.

Alarmist? Biased? Extreme?
This can only be the one and only Daily Mail.

So I wouldn't take it to heart tbh.


The daily mail has probably caused more suicides than the emo cultures.
givemyselfthecreeps!
Falling In Love With The Board
givemyselfthecreeps!
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 8866
May 21st, 2008 at 05:09pm
Any sort of culture is always brought down by the minority. Most "emos" don't cut themselves in the same way that most muslims aren't terrorists.
Ol' Blue Eyes.
King For A Couple Of Days
Ol' Blue Eyes.
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 4816

Mibba
May 21st, 2008 at 06:29pm
People will always look for scapegoats to take the blame off themselves. Her music/clothesetc are just things her parents are using to pretend that they were in no way responsible.

While I do believe that the media will always play some role in the development of a person's mind, I think that the desire to shoot up a school or kill yourself has to be there first, for the media to have any effect.
yellowstickerface
Geek
yellowstickerface
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Posts: 195
May 23rd, 2008 at 08:30am
Cultures like emo have been around for ages.
Punk, Goth, whatever it's always been there since the beginning of rock and roll and these scenes will be there right till the end.

Remember when Parents were blaming The Beatles for their childs antisocial behaviour?
Kurtni
Admin
Kurtni
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 34289

Mibba Blog
May 23rd, 2008 at 02:33pm
NeoSteph:
Bloodraine:
Well I don't know what any of you expected from that article.

Alarmist? Biased? Extreme?
This can only be the one and only Daily Mail.

So I wouldn't take it to heart tbh.


The daily mail has probably caused more suicides than the emo cultures.
My god I've never even read the daily mail but just listening to you brits talk about it makes me cringe a little. Coolio
norwegian wood.
Geek
norwegian wood.
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 137
May 23rd, 2008 at 03:24pm
The Daily Mail's a pile of shit and anyone who actually thinks that their articles on so-called "emo culture" should be shot.
I'd eat a pound of fecal matter before picking up a copy of the Daily Mail, seriously.
Sylar
Falling In Love With The Board
Sylar
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 5703
May 24th, 2008 at 08:57am
I'd hang myself if I listened to My Chemical Romance

I'm sick of hearing about emo quite frankly.
Register