Civic dubbed a 'pit of harassment' - News - General - The Canberra Times

In a familiar pattern in Australia alternative teens face hassle from authorities and shop keepers:

Civic dubbed a 'pit of harassment' - News - General - The Canberra Times

20 January 2008

CIVIC shop owners have expressed fear and outrage at what they say is a growing culture of anti-social behaviour and pack youth mentality in the area.

Coupled with the complaints were allegations police were complacent in patrolling the area.

According to one retail outlet owner, the Beats Police office looking over Garema Place is staffed only at night and periodically at weekends, allowing unlawful and aggressive behaviour to escalate.

But according to an ACT Policing spokesman, the office is not a police station and is used only when Beats foot patrols are on duty. "The community expects high-visibility policing and for the beats teams to be away from their desks and out on the streets. In close proximity to Garema Place, the City Police Station is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and there for anyone who is in need of assistance," he said.

None of the business operators Sunday Canberra Times spoke to in and around Garema Place were willing to be named, citing safety reasons. "A pit of harassment and aggression. That sums this place up," another owner said. "Once these kids know that their scare tactics are working, they are like vultures to a dead carcass. They just won't go away."

The Sunday Canberra Times spoke to a group of youths in Garema Place yesterday about the complaints raised by business owners. Twenty-one year-old Natalie Stevenson, of Braddon, cuts a striking figure, her short bleached hair contrasted by a uniform of black on black, a ripped pink singlet tied around her waist. She acknowledges her appearance is out of the ordinary but says she and her similarly attired friends are misunderstood by a majority of the public.

"We get just as much abuse from passers-by and shop owners. They call us emos [a term for a subgenre of youth] and tell us where to go. We have been followed store to store by security guards who reckon we are going to steal from them," she said.

"I work in Civic, hang out here and have just as much right to this place as anyone. It is a free world. We are not aggressive. It is narrow-minded people who are so quick to place us in that basket."

Street Culture and What is Emo?

A potentially good article on street culture in Manchester features some spectacularly inaccurate statements:

Manchester Confidential - A matter of taste…and bile:
"A matter of taste…and bile
Sian Claire Owen explores the fractured music scene and finds individuality and manipulation

Musical history is littered with bloody musical genre clashes. Skinheads hated hippies, mods loathed rockers, and punks just spat at anything that moved. Hell, the minstrels and sonneteers were probably at each others throats back in the day."...

Far from the mod'n'rocker riots on Brighton Beach in the 60s, today's musical genres have reached a Zen-like state of harmony. Either that or today's musical landscape is blander than a Barratt housing estate.

"There's no animosity between different scenes," said Shaw. "There are a lot of good collaborations. Most people at BBC 6 Music happily mix between the best of the music styles. Although saying that, as a teenager I would never have listened to Goth or heavy metal. And still wouldn't, come to think of it."

Dream on... people in Lancashire are regularly beaten up even killed for looking different.

Meanwhile another article attempts to define Emo... and works out that much of what the average person understands about the term is nonsense:

Finding emo: It eludes a real definition
Wisconsin State Journal, WI - 11 Jan 2008

They might be your kids. For sure, they know all about emo and you do not. It is a well-known and common international youth subculture, a celebration of depression that, so far, is virtually invisible to most adults.

"For me, the most disturbing part of this emo ' phenomenon is the whole I hate my life, I want to die ' part, " says Chelli Riddiough, a junior at Madison West High School. "The I want to cut myself ' joke that 's not really a joke at all. Thanks to the rejection of forthright emotions, teenage depression is being dismissed as just being emo. "

Emo is a kind of music, and a kind of fashion style, and above all a kind of demeanor. It 's so well known among young people that they already see it as cliche. It 's verbal shorthand for "emotional. " If the term had been current a generation ago, humorous depressives such as Charlie Brown and Woody Allen would have been labeled emo. Except that today it 's not funny.

"I have a lot of friends that are truly emo, " says Alex Policastro, a 17-year-old student at the Madison Area Technical College. "I think emos are people that have had a tough life, or just a tough time, and either need help or should be helped. "

Searching for emo

Finding emo is rough, if you 're older. On the one hand, it 's so well known that if you run "emo " on the Google search engine, you 'll find 50.3 million listings. Compare that to, for example, 8.16 million for "Jesus Christ " or 1.94 million for "bill of rights. "

That 's perhaps not surprising; according to a survey conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, the average age of the most active creators of Internet-content is 25. Emo seems to skew far younger than that, reaching down even into middle school.

On the other hand, we asked adults if they knew what emo was. We asked school psychologists, area high school and middle school counseling staffs, experts at the UW-Madison School of Education, and the Madison-based Briarpatch youth crisis intervention service. Some had heard of emo. No one could even define it.

So what is emo?

"Oftentimes, emo is used as a derogatory term, a sort of grow up and grow out of it ' statement, " says Riddiough. "For the most part, the term is typified as pessimistic, angsty, self-injurious and even suicidal. And sometimes homosexual, since male and female emo styles are pretty much the same. "

"I don 't know if I 'd really classify myself as emo, " says Jennifer Wilson, age 21, a Madison sales associate. But others have called her emo. "It 's kind of one of those things that outsiders label others as, if that makes sense. Like, a football player wouldn 't label himself as a jock. ' "

"I have been called emo before, " says Policastro. "I am not emo. If you want, you can categorize me as punk, maybe. "

Says Riddiough, "Nobody I know would gladly admit to being emo. It 's become such a joking term, such an insult, even, that few would seriously describe themselves as such. "

So despised is emo that one contributor to Yahoo Answers, an advice Web site, confessed to cutting himself. But that wasn 't the problem. The problem was that friends labeled him emo as a result. He plaintively complained, "I don 't get why ur emo if u cut. It 's stupid I think. "

Emo as a demeanor apparently arose in America. It spread via the Internet to Europe a few years ago. There, at least, it has begun to receive press attention. London 's Daily Mail reported that "teenagers are less equipped to manage strong emotions and a cult of suicide could have real and horrible consequences. " Kathimerini, a Greek newspaper, warns that psychologists there are concerned. In Australia, according to the University of Queensland 's Newspace, "Emo is the new vogue. "

A musical start

At first, emo was just music. "I believe emo came out of the hardcore scene -- metal plus punk, " says Jennifer Hanrahan, a host and DJ at the UW-Madison student radio station WSUM. "However, by the 2000s, emo had become more of a fashion style rather than a musical genre. "

Hanrahan says that acts such as Fall Out Boy, Dashboard Confessional and My Chemical Romance all became known as emo, even though one could argue that there were differences in their music. Another famous emo band is the Brooklyn-based Rainer Maria, which started in Madison. The band has not responded to requests for comment.

Like individuals labeled emo, "The bands who are commonly called emo don 't appreciate the term, " says Hanrahan.

Still, emo as music was relatively non-threatening, and it therefore played on top 40-radio stations and music television channels, "and so became popular with white middle to upper-class pre-teens and teens, " Hanrahan says. It became commercial. "Due to its young and affluent audience, emo began to get a bad rap with the wider musical public, whether deservedly or not I can 't quite say. "

The music defined the message, and the message came to define a more or less uniform androgynous fashion sense. "Nowadays, emo is considered as a white teen wearing tight black jeans, heavy mascara, and a floppy hairstyle, " says Hanrahan. Every emo Web site agrees with the stereotyped portrait: bangs over one or both eyes, Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers and band T-shirts are signature emo traits. With the crystallization of outward style came a defined demeanor.

There has been teen angst as long as there have been teens, of course. We just keep coming up with different names for it; Romeo 's Juliet was only 13, after all. Before emo there were the black-clad "goths, " whose clothes and black and white make-up resembled that of television 's "The Addams Family. " Emo is very different.

"From what I 've observed, Goth is about being angry and trying to be different, " says Riddiough. "It 's about rebelling and, yes, wearing black. Emo is about being sad and emotionally weak. "

The emo world

If you 're an outsider, emo is, above all, easy to ridicule. You can visit www.TheEmoQuiz.com ( "The glass is: a) Half empty, b) Half full, c) Shattered in a million sharp pieces, d) Full of blood "). There are also online cartoons, mocking emo in an artistic style resembling the big sad-eyed kitten posters of the 1960s. One shows a weeping young man, and announces, "Emo is just an excuse for boys to act like girls. " Another shows an emo kid working on a poem, asking another emo kid, "What rhymes with razor blade? "

Another common Internet joke is, "I wish my lawn were emo, so it would cut itself. "

"As for the cutting thing, I don 't cut myself, " says Wilson. "I never have. I know people who have cut themselves that wouldn 't be classified as emo. ' I know people who are emo that don 't cut themselves. I think that it 's more of a stereotype than a fact. I wouldn 't say there isn 't any direct correlation, but then again the whole emo thing ' is a huge stereotype anyway. "

Still, sometimes emo can be a call for help.

"I have a male friend who used to be extremely emo, " says Wilson. "I once called him to ask what he was up to. He said, I 'm laying on the floor of my dark, cold basement listening to depressing music. I know, I 'm emo. ' "

"From my understanding, emo means emotionally disturbed, ' " notes Policastro. "I am trying to spread help to people who need it. "

Given that emo is most often an unfair stereotype label applied by others, is it necessarily bad?

"I think I definitely have certain emo characteristics, but overall, I 'm a happy person, " says Wilson. "The things that I would say about myself that are similar (to emo) are the fact that I love to express myself through things like art, writing, fashion and music. I dress a little less conservatively. I guess if you 're going by what emo ' is short for, emotional, ' then I suppose that could be true too. Everyone 's emotional. Maybe we 're all a little emo. "

Riddiough agrees.

"It means the manifestation of sadness and pain, " she says. "Everybody feels it. Everybody is emo. "

Man Jailed For Two Years Over Chav Stabbing (from The Northern Echo)

Very interesting case in the NE. Here divisions between chav/emos are used as a defence in court over a stabbing incident. Unusually here it is the emo in trouble but it seems he had a history and much provocation at least according to him. Some similarities to the Dele Little case I think. It looks like it started out with an abusive behaviour incident and then escalated. Of course this being a court case it is difficult to know what exactly happened.

The key point is that once again subcultural divisions ended up with violence.

Man Jailed For Two Years Over Chav Stabbing (from The Northern Echo)

Dec 11th

A MAN has today been jailed for two years for knifing a teenager at the Stockton Riverside Festival.

The judge told Michael Dixon, 22, that he had marred the festival which was a joyous event and something of which the people of Stockton could be proud.

Fear spread along the town's Finkle Street when Dixon was seen covered in blood and waving a knife, said prosecutor Martina Connolly. Ambulance staff went to the aid of Dixon's victim Michael Hancock, 19, whom he stabbed twice in the back on August 4 with a Swiss Army knife, Teesside Crown Court was told.

Michael Hancock had gone to the aid of his friend James Parker who was in an altercation with Dixon. Mr Hancock was walking away when he felt a hard punch to his back, and when he turned around he saw Dixon screaming abuse at him.

The pair rolled over on the ground punching and kicking but it ended when Mr Hancock pushed Dixon away.

Mr Hancock's friends then noticed that his back was bleeding heavily. He was treated in hospital and discharged within hours.

When Dixon saw the police he was still waving the knife and he shouted at them "Come on", added Miss Connolly. During his arrest he threw the knife over a wall but it was recovered later.

Dixon was drunk, and when he was interviewed the next day he said that it had been an argument between chavs and emos - fans of emotional, heavy metal music who wear tight clothing.

Dixon claimed that he had the knife to open bottles, and he said he regretted his actions.

Miss Connolly said that Dixon had previous convictions for possessing a machete and a knife, and for violence.

Robin Denny, defending, said that a prison sentence was inevitable. He said that Dixon was an emo who had been picked on by Mr Hancock, a chav with convictions for drunk and disorderly behaviour, affray and assault on police.

He added: "The defendant initially intended to frighten the victim. He was obviously initially attacked by someone who is particularly prone to attacking people for no good reason late at night."

The Recorder of Middlesbrough Judge Peter Fox QC told Dixon: "Your drunkenness affords you not the slightest excuse.

"You have got a very bad record for violence, but in particular this is the fourth time in your young life that you have been convicted of having an offensive weapon.

"The suggestion that you had bought that Swiss Army knife to open bottles is all very well. There are such things as bottle openers, you don't stab people in the back with a bottle opener."

The judge added: "The Riverside Festival is something that the people of Stockton can be proud of. It's a happy, joyous event, almost everybody behaves themselves and has a good time. You're the exception, your behaviour was particularly bad."

Dixon of Mapleton Road, Hartlepool, was jailed for two years after he pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon, unlawful wounding and affray.

Riverside Festival knife attacker jailed - Gazette Live

Dec 11 2007 Evening Gazette

Mr Hancock had gone to the aid of his friend James Parker who had been in an altercation with Dixon, 22.

Mr Hancock was walking away when he felt a hard punch to his back. When he turned round he saw Dixon screaming abuse at him.

The pair rolled on the ground punching and kicking but it ended when Mr Hancock pushed Dixon away.

Mr Hancock’s friends then noticed that his back was bleeding heavily, leaving him needing hospital treatment.

When Dixon was interviewed the next day he said it had been an argument between chavs and emos - fans of emotional, heavy metal music who wore tight clothing.

Dixon claimed that he had the knife to open bottles, and he said he regretted his actions.

He pleaded guilty on the basis he was with his girlfriend when he was attacked by Mr Hancock and another.

Meanwhile...

Rome and Juliet - a review

Weston & Somerset Mercury, UK - 14 Dec 2007

THE audience at The Kings of Wessex School escaped the wild December weather last Thursday and Friday evening (6 and 7/12/07) to journey to Verona for the Year 9 Thespians' production of Shakespeare's first romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet.

This modern interpretation used minimal props. The bold black and white Ying Yang motif on stage was a vivid reminder of the playoff between opposites. The two sworn rival families: the Capulets (Juliet) and Montagues (Romeo) were brought to life via the students' portrayal of today's "Chavs" and "Emos". The warring factions brutally manifested in the realistic fight scenes were all too reminiscent of the divisions in today's society and across the globe. Following the deaths of Romeo's friend Mercutio (Max Hopestone Bell) by Tybalt (Russ Eccleston), swiftly followed by his killing at the hand of Romeo, a plague is cursed upon both houses, setting the scene for more tragedy.

And yet love blossoms between Romeo and Juliet who in the famous balcony scene arrange a secret marriage with the help of Friar Lawrence (Adam Clegg) and the Nurses (Aggie Morris/John Male). Their first kiss is sealed with suitably, striking strobe lighting.

As a technical devise, music is used well. The pulsating opening beat builds up to the cacophony in the street scene foretelling more drama. Whilst the Chavs' dance sequences were slinky, posing to Justin Timberlake's Love Stoned, the Emos opt for the aggressive, fight-inspiring Hard Fi's Suburban Knights.

Costumes were jeans and coloured t-shirts, with Romeo and Juliet in red t-shirts - very much the roses of the show and just as sweet. 13-year old Ben Champion plays love-struck Romeo, akin to a dreamy troubadour, wandering about stage as "fortune's fool". With touching tenderness, "never was such beauty" 14-year old Sophie Caunt plays Juliet at the same age.

"Thou canst not speak if thou canst not feel". Indeed, Kings' 13 and 14-year old cast of strong performers artfully mastered the Bard's language, demonstrating understanding, with plenty of dramatic anger and desperation in the face of doomed love.

This story of woe was a "heavy day" that would not be easily forgotten. As Massive Attack played out the end with "Teardrop", the audience reflected on the play's contemporary themes - arranged marriages, fighting on the streets, feuding between inner city estates... Ultimately, the love potion, like Shakespeare's favourite theme of misadventure, is taken to its most fatal conclusion.

New Emo Goth Danger?

We mentioned before this strange saga (More media lies about goths and emos ) in the press from this stupid article EMO cult warning for parents | the Daily Mail which focused particularly on My Chemical Romance. They have often promoted anti self-harm message so pinning the blame on them is stupid.

But what can you expect from the Daily Mail who loved the colour black in the thirties when it was worn by the British Union of Fascists famously running the headline "Hurrah for the Blackshirts!". They frequently said good things about Hitler and Mussolini and supported the appeasement line.

The Guardian interview with My Chemical Romance at the time was interesting:

Alexis Petridis meets My Chemical Romance The Daily Mail says they're a threat to society. Rival bands say they're dangerous. Are My Chemical Romance really as evil as all that? Alexis Petridis finds out

Friday October 27, 2006
The Guardian

"I'm surprised a newspaper thought we were such a threat that they had to write a whole article about us and our fans, calling them a death cult," frowns Gerard Way. His brother wearily points out that we have been here before. "In the 1980s, people thought Judas Priest was promoting suicide," he sighs. "They were like, Dee Snider from Twisted Sister? Dude's in league with the devil, man!"

In addition, they claim not to be an emo band at all: "We're so opposed to it because when we started out there were emo bands all around and we stuck out as not being emo," complains Gerard. "What that translated to is that we couldn't get booked up for shows, no one would take us on tour with them apart from Christian metal bands. We didn't get any of the benefits of being an emo band, our influences didn't come from emo. We just became emo by default, because we became one of the biggest bands from that scene." He quickly corrects himself: "That we weren't even a part of."...

The other factor is the band and their fans frequently have faced rivalry from others like metal bands etc which has led to fights :

The other factor in My Chemical Romance's rise to mainstream stardom seems to have been their appearance at this year's Reading Festival. Plenty of artists have sealed their elevation to the big time via a triumphant summer festival appearance, but My Chemical Romance stole the show at Reading by the unlikely expedient of having bottles thrown at them by disgruntled fans of metal band Slayer, who preceded them on the bill. The Slayer fans were either provoked by My Chemical Romance's music, or Gerard Way's frenetic, mincing stage manner ("right from when we started," says Iero phlegmatically, "people have yelled 'fags' at us"), or the youth of their fanbase. Either way, the column inches most expected to go the Arctic Monkeys or Muse went their way. The hype was increased when fellow alt-rockers Kasabian and the Killers' Brandon Flowers dismissed them in terms your average 14-year-old is likely to find irresistible: the former called them "dark and weird", the latter "dangerous".

Mention of the Reading performance evokes mixed emotions. Iero claims he thought the incident "ruled", but still seems a bit angry - "we have more heart in one fuckin' bead of sweat than most of those people have in their entire bodies". Gerard Way seems positively delighted: "That was our greatest victory as a show," he smiles. "This band was always about facing adversity. We got bottled for being dangerous. We oppose everything that's conventional about rock'n'roll in this country, our home country, everywhere in the world. That weekend, kids were getting beat up in the audience, the guys on stage were getting beat up, and we got through it, just like the kids got through it."

This article covers the same ground:
New Emo Goth Danger?

The band’s young audience is a concern to know-nothing sorts who’ve been campaigning against the alleged persuasive nature of rock music for what feels like forever. Only recently, in August 2006, The Daily Mail ran an article warning parents of the ‘New Emo Goth Danger’ – those are exact words they used, and the piece can be read online here. One of only three bands mentioned in the piece – bands that apparently encourage behaviour such as self-harm – was My Chemical Romance. Gerard doesn’t know whether to laugh out loud or cry silently to himself.

---
"Papers like that will never do their homework, but it is kind of funny to call it ‘emo death cult’, or whatever it was called."

“The funny thing is that I’ve met more kids that have stopped self-harming because of us, than anything,” he says, his face masked with absolute seriousness. “That’s the case with most of the kids I meet, especially in the UK, so I guess it is some sort of epidemic. Most of the kids that I meet, that say thank you, are kids that used to self-harm. Kerrang! was involved, as one of their readers wrote in about it, and I ended up having a very personal discussion with this girl. I noticed she had all these cuts, and it really bummed me out, and I was hoping that she didn’t feel that she needed to do that in order to come to the show. And I ended up meeting the girl and her mother – the mother had written a letter to Kerrang! – and she said because of the band she’s now stopped doing that. Papers like that will never do their homework, but it is kind of funny to call it ‘emo death cult’, or whatever it was called. ‘New Emo Goth Danger’?”

Iero cackles: “Ha! I like that! That’s the title of the next album, New Emo Goth Danger!”

The matter raises a final point, though. My Chemical Romance are superstars nowadays, playing to thousands of kids – and we do mean kids – at each and every show they play. They must come in for a lot of stick from right-wingers who haven’t taken the time to realise that the band’s fantasy-horror lyrics are just that: fantasy. The music's immediate and the lyrics fun: there are no hidden messages calling for kids the world over to scratch their best friend's eyes out. Sure, the five-piece have posed for photo shoots covered in fake blood, playing-dead models lying at their feet, but that doesn’t make them a bad influence. They just like, as has already been mentioned, playing it up, theatrically.

“We live in a very sick bubble, made of concrete and bullet-proof casing,” says Gerard. “If you acknowledged all the ignorant stuff you heard, you’d never sleep, we’d never sleep. There’d be no time. I gotta say I’m not a fan of that Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back movie, but it has one of the best scenes I’ve ever seen. They literally go around to peoples’ houses that have talked shit about them on the internet and give it back to them. It’s the coolest thing in the world.”

Glasgow - Alternative teens banned from public place

Following the recent events in Blackburn, Glasgow is the latest city in which alternative youth is facing harassment from the authorities.

---

Scotsman.com News - Scotland - Goma goths banned - heaven knows they're miserable now

Sun 9 Dec 2007
MARC HORNE (mhorne@scotlandonsunday.com)

WITH their black clothes, white faces and mournful expressions they have become an instantly recognisable part of life in Scotland's city centres.

But now Glasgow's goths have a genuine reason to look miserable. City leaders have branded them a threat to economic prosperity and have launched a bid to bar them from their favourite hangout.

For years dozens of outlandishly dressed youngsters have made Glasgow's Royal Exchange Square in the city centre their second home.
But now the council has accused them of intimidating shoppers and being behind a rise in anti-social behaviour.

In a bid to move the youngsters on they have cordoned off steps between Borders bookshop and the Gallery of Modern Art (Goma) - a favourite goth gathering point. Security guards have been brought in to supervise the area. A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: "Royal Exchange Square is one of the jewels in Glasgow's crown.

"In recent months, however, there has been the risk of the Square, and in particular the steps at the western end, becoming a focus for anti-social behaviour.
In consultation with businesses in the Square it was decided to cordon off the steps.

"This measure will remain in place for as long as is necessary to ensure it remains one of the country's premier locations for shopping and entertainment."

A council insider said: "Royal Exchange Square is a gateway between our premier shopping locations and, as such, is incredibly important to us.

"We need it be a nice, safe area for the people who are walking through it. We have had complaints about teenagers gathering there and there were allegations about drinking, drug-taking and inappropriate behaviour. So far the measures we have taken seem to have helped."

But youngsters who are refusing to leave the area, which is full of exclusive shops and eateries, claim the council's tactics were heavy-handed, discriminatory and unnecessary. One teenage girl said: "There is absolutely no way we are here to cause trouble.

"We are too young to go to the pub and we hang around here for the simple reason that we have nowhere else to go to chat and meet up with our friends.

"It's laughable that Glasgow City Council regards us some sort of threat to society simply because we choose to dress differently."

Her purple-haired friend added: "There are so many real problems with violence in Glasgow yet the city council is spending money sending security guards to intimidate groups of well-behaved teenagers.

"I suppose they see us as an easy target. We are meant to be the friendly, welcoming Commonwealth Games city, but we are clearly not welcome here."

The alternative teenage tribes of Royal Exchange Square, including punks, emo-kids and metal-heads, have become such a part of the city life that in 2003 they were featured in a BBC documentary entitled Glasgow's Goth Kids. Work created by the youngsters has been displayed at the nearby Goma.

Last year a study conducted by Dr Dunja Brill concluded that goths were largely sensitive youngsters who eschewed violence and were more likely to get good grades and go on to higher education.

Isn't enough that alternative people have to face abuse from thugs that they must be targeted by the authorities for simply existing? If individual people are misbehaving then what about the laws which exist to deal with individuals? CCTV covers the square after all. Why target a group as a whole? If you feel strongly about this try complaining to Councillor Steven Purcell.

Leader of Glasgow City Council - Scottish Labour Party
Email: steven.purcell@councillors.glasgow.gov.uk

There is a long history of similar issues in relation to the square.

Art chiefs' bid to get rid of Goths

Daily Record Feb 7 2003

ART gallery bosses tried to scare off gangs of Goths with classical
music. But it backfired on them as the youngsters - fans of shock-rockers
such as Marilyn Manson and Slipknot - discovered an unexpected taste for
Vivaldi.

Even more of them turned up at their meeting place outside Glasgow's
Gallery of Modern Art as the classical tunes blasted from its windows.

Gallery bosses took action because they believed the Goths
congregating in Royal Exchange Square were scaring off art-lovers.

The Goths also got into the building and took over the toilets to do
their distinctive make-up and hairstyles. Graffiti was daubed over the outside of the building and there were violent clashes with rival gangs of "neds".

The gallery set up patrols in the square and removed benches but
hundreds of youngsters still congregated outside.

Assistant curator Clare McLeod said they then resorted to playing
music they thought would annoy their unwelcome visitors.

She said: "We decided to blast Vivaldi at full volume from windows
above their heads to sicken them but they actually seemed to enjoy it in the
end.

"There are several hundred kids around here at the weekend and the
numbers certainly didn't decrease so we had to eventually think of different
ways to solve our problem.

"Our intial reaction was to get rid of the kids or move them along but
in the end we had to rethink."

The gallery has now invited the Goths to workshops and set up an
exhibition entitled Nu, which pays tribute to the Goth culture.

A focus group was also established in the gallery library so the Goths
could offer ideas about what they'd like to see there.

TV producer Tanya Cheadle, who has made a BBC1 documentary on the
Goths which will be shown next week, said: "We found them intimidating and
people wanting to get into the gallery were put off, so the steps they took
were perfectly valid.

"But I think the story ends on a very positive note. The exhibition
shows the children are threatening in appearance but are very much an art
form themselves."

Alterophobia's research has revealed that similar moves have recently occurred in Bristol as well. More on this later.

Links to the events mentioned:

Glasgow Needs Youth! Gallery Of Modern Art Gives Kids A Chance ...

Lion Television . Productions . Glasgow's Goth Kids

Athens - Emos assaulted

No doubt emos in greece have faced violence before in Greece but now it is in the papers, alongside the usual anti Emo garbage. I am still amazed how much nonsense newspapers print since when is Green Day emo? Glyfada is a suburb of Athens.

ekathimerini.com | Injuries in youth culture clash
Kathimerini, Greece - 5 Dec 2007

An attack on two adolescents in Glyfada by a large group of teenagers has highlighted growing tensions between “rival” groups of fashion-conscious youngsters.

The attack, which occurred in central Glyfada early Sunday, resulted in minor injuries to one of the two victims and the arrest of three alleged assailants who faced a prosecutor yesterday. Meanwhile, police are seeking another 18 youngsters implicated in the attack.

The two victims define themselves as “emos” – code for a tribe of youngsters who wear black clothes, dyed black hair brushed over their face, and listen to an “emotional” strain of post-punk music. The pair claim to have been surrounded by a group of “trendies” – a rival band of preppy youngsters – who demanded they hand over their money and mobile phones. The victims say they were attacked after refusing to give in to the demands. They say they were targeted for being “emos.”

The “emo” trend, which appeared in other European countries several years ago, has only recently gained ground in Greece. Youngsters claiming allegiance to the clan – girls and boys alike – typically dress in black with drainpipe jeans and heavy black makeup. They tend to listen to bands playing a strain of post-punk music featuring angry and retrospective lyrics, such as Green Day and My Chemical Romance.

The tendency of some emos in other countries to intentionally harm themselves – generally minor cuts using razors – does not appear to have been embraced in Greece.

Nevertheless, psychologists are concerned that this type of allegiance is not a particularly healthy one for youngsters. “This is the first time such an emotionally charged youth movement has appeared in Greece,” clinical psychologist Eleni Kouloutzou told Kathimerini. “These children appear almost mournful but they have turned their anger in on themselves rather than against society – they don’t believe in anything,” she said.

Apart from “emos” and “trendies,” Greece also has “kangoures” – male teenagers with a loud, brash style who drive their cars dangerously.

The interesting thing is that the assault is identical to all the other attacks we have covered across the world in it has emos assaulted by trendies in large numbers. A followup article is even more disturbing...

Violence is not about style
Kathimerini, Greece - 7 Dec 2007

By Nikos Xydakis

Recent youth clashes are being seen by many as a war of stylistic differences. The «cool» kids beating up on the «emos.» Next, we will embark on an analysis of each trend or the subculture to which each belongs.

But this approach harbors many dangers. First, we begin by looking at violence as a matter of aesthetics, a lifestyle conflict. It is that, but only partly. It is like the clashes between hooligans that have sometimes even ended in death - and are not just about the color of one's jersey.

No 17-year-old living in Athens who has been witness to such incidents has any doubt about what to call those of his peers who attack emos with scissors and switchblades, hack away at their bangs and beat them in the face: They are bullies. Pure and simple.

You may even hear something about the packs of semi-feral teenagers prowling neighborhoods on their noisy mopeds until a lone long-banged kid walks by. «What are you looking at?!» That's how it begins, and sometimes it ends in a vicious beating. The pack mentality and senseless violence are characteristics of a youth that is full of rage, that lacks a smooth process of assimilation or passage into wider society. With schools degraded, a society that doles out hypocrisy and insecurity, a professional outlook that is limited to delivering pizzas or becoming a night watchman, with ideological hatred being vented on every Internet site, teenagers, and especially these semi-marginalized teenagers, are pushed to aggression, to blind competition, to the exclusion of all «others,» to forming packs within which they have an identity.

Bullies, of course, have always been around. But in cases such as these beatings, in Glyfada and Syntagma, their pack mentality puts them on a par with the lumpen hooligans. Violence is not just a matter of aesthetics.

More media lies about goths and emos

A newspaper article insults a goth teen just for liking his friends!!

You silly Lotto!

Dec 9 2007 by Nathan Bevan, Wales On Sunday

NOW for a new weekly section called Well, Bloody Give It Back Then...

First recipient of the WBGIBT Award is £8.4m Lotto winner Jenny Southall from Newport.

Or, more precisely, it’s her teenage son Jamie who I’m naming and shaming for refusing to move from their pokey council house a mile away. Apparently, the young goth doesn’t want to leave his friends behind – besides, he’s probably only recently finished painting his entire bedroom black and has no doubt just perfected infusing his sheets with the rancid stench of fetid teenager.

Jamie, with that much dosh you can buy more friends, better looking ones, ones who don’t cover their faces with Mother’s Pride while listening to Fields Of The Nephilim records.

Last time I looked Britain was a free country people can wear as much or as little makeup or the clothes they want. If you don't like that well then move to Iran or another country where teenagers can be arrested for dressing in the wrong way or listening to the wrong kind of music.

In an article on the remake of the classic St Trinians fifties films is par for the course for the Daily Mail. Unless the film does portray emos as self-harming goths which I certainly hope it doesn't.

Meet the tribes of St Trinian's | the Daily Mail

6th December 2007

Modern girls: (left to right) Trustafarian (Juno Temple), Chav (Kathryn Drysdale), Geek (Lily Cole), The Emo (Paloma Faith), Posh Totty (Tamsin Egerton. Click ENLARGE to see the full profiles

There is a geek with granny glasses and knee-length skirt who is such a computer whiz she can mastermind a multi-million-pound art theft.

There's a chav Essex girl and a freakish creature with pink and black hair who is so emotional that her eyeliner is constantly running down her face.

"The actresses chosen to play the St Trinian's girls needed to be uncompromising, upfront, genuine, and most importantly independent minded, and this is exactly what we got," says director Oliver Parker...

"Girls at modern schools today are divided into gangs and cliques. By visiting a number we were able to plug into the mindset of today's girls and get a sense of which bands they were talking about, what cliques they had and what slang they were using."

"We went round to lots of schools to do our research including posh public schools and comprehensives,' adds co director Barnaby Thompson.

"After talking to the girls for ten minutes, what was interesting was that they all talked about the same things. So we have Chavs, Emos [emotionals - self-harming teenage Goths], Trustafarians, Geeks and Posh Totty in this film.

But hey this is the Daily Mail which printed one of the most inaccurate and stupid articles ever written on emo (and there is great competition for that particular award) in August 2006. Check out:

EMO cult warning for parents | the Daily Mail

Oh yes watch out for those fearsome emos...

The Emos - short for Emotional - regard themselves as a cool, young sub-set of the Goths.

Although the look is similar, the point of distinction, frightening for schools and parents, is a celebration of self harm.

Emos exchange competitive messages on their teenage websites about the scars on their wrists and how best to display them. Girls' secondary schools have for some time been concerned about the increase in self harm.

One governor of a famous boarding school told me that it was as serious a problem as binge drinking, but rarely discussed for fear of encouraging more girls to do it.

Although it is invariably described as a 'secret shame', there is actually a streak of exhibitionism about it.

The internet has many sites dedicated to Emo fashion (dyed black hair brushed over your face, layering, black, black, black), Emo bands (Green Day, My Chemical Romance), Emo conversation (sighing, wailing, poetry).

Kerrang responded by pointing out the Daily Mail knew nothing about Emo. Anyone with a passing interest in youth culture could see the article was so stupid it was amazing. Emos=goths makes no sense what so ever as for the bands it lists as being emo well.

The interesting thing about the film is that it clearly is based on the real tribalistic divisions in schools which do result in conflict. Interestingly a recent initiative in Somerset deals with the same themes:

Kids teach adults a lesson
Weston & Somerset Mercury, UK - 5 Dec 2007

YOUNGSTERS dressed up as 'chavs' and 'emos' to help members of Nailsea's older generation understand more about youth culture.

Three pupils from Nailsea School, in Mizzymead Road, were invited to a Neighbourhood Watch meeting to try to improve relationships between the two generations.

Scott Davie, Libbi Cooper and James Daley donned drainpipe jeans, tracksuits and hoodies as they explained what members of different culture groups liked wearing and what their interests were.

The meeting was part of an initiative by Nailsea School and the Neighbourhood Watch group to try to breakdown barriers and stereotypes between the younger and older generations.

Nailsea School teacher, Dilly Taylor, said: "We are looking at ways of getting the two generations together, to get rid of some of the fear for the older people, and to encourage youngsters to be more conscientious in looking out for the older generation in their communities."

Members of Nailsea Neighbourhood Watch are now planning to give a presentation to youngsters at the school about the aims of their group.

Chairman Don Plevey said: "We want to develop a relationship between Neighbourhood Watch and schoolchildren because older people often perceive youngsters as some kind of threat, when they aren't.

"We are convinced that if we establish a relationship between youngsters in the town it will help prevent vandalism and other problems. We are also thinking of setting up a Watch scheme for youngsters."

Pupils have been thinking of ways to spend more time with older people in the community.
One of the suggestions includes inviting members of the group to the school cafe or meeting up with them in town to try to forge friendships. About 3,800 households in Nailsea belong to the Watch scheme and members meet at the United Reformed Church hall in Stockway North on the second Wednesday of the month at 7.30pm.

Computer and Mobile games show school tribes

Bratz [those dolls] now have a computer game in which they solve all the high school divisions... the game is not very good apparently. Sounds like stereotype city.

Bratz 4 Real - Review

December 3, 2007 - High school. Four years of homework and hall passes, four years of teachers and friends. And four years of the same friends, too, as you're doomed to fall into the trap of joining a tight, exclusive clique and never being able to socialize with anyone outside of that small circle. That's what Bratz 4 Real asserts, as it sets up a story of four fashion-crazed friends who band together to eliminate their high school's clique system, and encourage all different kinds of students to start interacting with one another. It's an interesting premise, one that shows more promise than the storyline used in past Bratz-brand titles. But while the theme of this adventure works pretty well, its execution ends up being pretty shallow.

It's a constant string of short conversations. As you control one of the four Bratz friends, you run around their high school, the local mall and an adjacent park talking to non-player characters, then talking to more non-player characters, then going back to the first character ... and so on and so forth. The plan the Bratz have concocted involves bridging the gap between different social groups, none of which is comfortable with talking to any other. So your character is constantly serving as the messenger, moving from the nerds to the jocks, from the punks to the goths, from the populars to the preppies and every other combination in-between.

It's interesting from a plot perspective. You see the popular girl in charge of costumes for the school play reach out to a punk chick with clothing design experience for help. You see a preppy who loves to proofread manuscripts assisting a nerd with his latest anime fanfiction. You see bright, cheerful cheerleaders come together with drab, gothic girls and find common ground, and it's all very heartwarming to see....

Meanwhile in Australia:

Aussie game creator blasts sex critics | NEWS.com.au

Screenshots ... scenes from the game Coolest Girl In School / Supplied

AN independent Adelaide game developer has hit back at claims her upcoming mobile phone game encourages teen pregnancy and drug use. Coolest Girl In School, a role-playing game designed for mobiles, recently gained international notoriety after the Australian Family Association blasted it for being "grossly irresponsible".

The game's creator Holly Owen was "surprised" by the attack, but has revealed that none of the game's critics speak from experience. "We were really surprised at the lengths people went to condemn the game when no-one has actually played it yet," said Ms Owen, creative director of Champagne For The Ladies.

"I believe it was even accused of causing pregnancy, which I find hilarious," she said. "Someone hadn't had enough sex education to realise that you can't get pregnant from a mobile phone."

Coolest Girl In School is based around a high-school theme that, according to Ms Owen, justifies the controversial content.

"If we left out things like sex and drugs and rock n' roll... then it would really be a game about teachers and homework and pimples, which would be boring and not represent the whole theme."

The game uses multiple-choice questions, which Ms Owen describes as "the type usually found in teen girl mags".

"The strategy lies in making as many friends as you possibly can, which means that pleasing one subculture of people (like more reckless types) isn't necessarily going to do you any favours," Ms Owen said.

Players can customise their characters based on social stereotypes of different youth subcultures.

"You choose from a very extensive wardrobe that contains outfits from subcultures including emos, fashionistas, nerds, etcetera and then you go out into the world and encounter non-player characters," she said.

"Essentially they ask you questions or things happen to you and you've got three choices in terms of how you respond to their question, or the event."

One scene from the game shows an "emo" character asking: "Wanna bludge and fake our own suicides?" The response options vary from "Sure! Can it be suicide by chocolate?" to "Teenage suicide don't do it!" and "Can't sorry – I'm already failing"....

Number of people dying of suicide outnumbers those killed in wars - Pravda.Ru

More nonsense from Russia this time:

Number of people dying of suicide outnumbers those killed in wars - Pravda.Ru

30.11.2007
It is worthy of note that every real suicide is a critical demonstration of personal despair, whereas every demonstrative suicide is a potentially real one. Juvenile suicide is a much more complex phenomenon than it seems to be at the first sight. It is an open secret that the demonstrative suicidal conduct is typical teenagers, like other kinds of expressive behavior. In some subcultures, like Emo or Goth teenagers, for example, the marks of a failed suicide attempt (bruises or cuts) are viewed as high rank military insignia. Most often, a teenager tries to commit suicide not to simply impress his parents, but to overcome the fear of death. Suicidal behavior among young people may also be of imitative character.

Razor incident after Emo taunt

From such a short report it is difficult to tell what is going on here. The girl might just have a self harm problem and no interest in emo style or music given the popular stereotype. Was this the first time she had been taunted in this way or was bullying part of her life?

Girl arrested after slashing on school bus - Northwest Florida Daily News
Thursday November 29th, 2007

CRESTVIEW — A 12-year-old girl faces felony charges for lashing out at another student with a razor blade on Halloween. The incident happened on a school bus, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. The girl, a sixth-grader, told investigators she was upset at the other student for threatening to tell her mother that she had been cutting herself.

She became even madder when other kids on the bus began “calling her an ‘Emo,’” according to the report.

She said she lashed out at him with the blade but didn’t intend for any injury.
The boy’s jeans were sliced and his parent said his leg was injured. A deputy did not notice any visible wound the day after the incident. The girl was charged with aggravated battery and is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 26.

Emo panic hits Malta

Sound familiar.... look like one incident has generated a media bubble of lies and distortion. A few kids self harm and suddenly an entire genre of music is to blame. People self-harmed before emo was popular it is not some teenage fad but a serious condition.

Fear for emo kids

di-ve news -- 12 November 2007

ZEJTUN, Malta (di-ve news) -- November 12, 2007 -- 1320CEST -- Several Maltese teenagers are being drawn to a youth subculture which actively promotes self-harm. The latest teen fad is called 'emo', short for 'emotional'.

This is an angst-filled culture which is characterised by youths wearing dark attire, dying their hair black and having long black nails. Such teens are often negative about life and some of them even cut themselves. Such a phenomenon in Malta is a growing concern as incidences of teens inflicting harm on themselves are increasing.

A few weeks ago, a 12-year-old girl in a Junior Lyceum slashed her wrist with a knife in an all-girls collective blood pact and had to be hospitalised as she had lost a lot of blood.

However, the seriousness of the incident came to light after teachers discovered the scars of the other girls. What is surprising is that this angst-filled teen comes from a stable home and that she managed to hide her scars from her parents, who are both professionals. [Ed: A fact which is not surprising at all if you actually read ANYTHING about self-harm but hey journalists are busy people.]

After this incident, the students have been instructed to keep their nails short, while teachers are searching bags for knives and compasses. Parents are particularly concerned because the subculture is spreading steadily over the internet, and thus their children could easily come across the concept and get entangled into it.

[Ed. Is it just me or does this photo seem POSED? Possibly even sensational.]

An investigation made by www.di-ve.com uncovered a trail of internet-based local emo message boards on Hi5.

The Malta Union of Teachers president John Bencini said that the union was not informed about the case.

On their part, the Ministry of Education confirmed the story. However questions sent to the Education Department a month ago remained unanswered despite the numerous follow ups.

We asked if the problem was well-spread amongst Maltese students. We also asked what precautions were teachers encouraged to take and, if notwithstanding such precautions such a case does occur, what they must do.

Furthermore, we also asked if the girls involved in the incident had been counselled and monitored, whether access to internet was harmful to children and how could the parents deduct their children had embraced the subculture.

Education counselling service tackles emos in schools
by -
Local News -- 27 November 2007 -- 11:30CEST
The latest teen fad to spread across local schools is the emo sub-culture, which has generated concern following the reports that self-harm is actively promoted amongst the youths who are often characterised by anger and negativity.
A few weeks ago, www.di-ve.com exclusively revealed that one particular female student in a Junior Lyceum had to be hospitalised after losing a lot of blood when she slashed her wrist in a collective blood pact.

The concern over the incident had grown even more after teachers discovered the scars on the other girls.

The report was also picked up by various other local media, which followed up the story.

Meanwhile, www.di-ve.com caught up with an official spokesperson within the Ministry for Education, who confirmed that the incident took place, adding that immediate action had been taken accordingly in all the cases that had been reported.

“When a school notices that a student is having difficulty or experiencing a situation that is potentially harmful to their development, action is taken in various forms. One service that is offered is the Guidance and Counselling Service, where a student is followed by professionals and work is also done with the family.

”The school at times also refers students to outside agencies who may be able to give a more specialised psychological service if this is needed. Students are then monitored for any progress or regression that may occur,” the spokesperson said.

As yet, there is no scientific study that shows the extent to which the emo subculture has spread in the local schools, but the Ministry for Education has only received a few individual reports.

Such trends are common amongst adolescents, and new fads and modes of behaviours appear in schools from time to time.

Whilst pointing out that all schools have a trained counsellor who works on prevention and intervention, the spokesperson said that in those schools where the emo situation was felt to be present, parents and staff were given information on how to recognise the phenomenon, its consequences, how to handle such situations and where to refer for help through an information session that also included a power-point presentation.

Teachers are advised to consult with their Head of School or guidance and counselling team if they notice, have evidence or strongly suspect that a student is going through a particular difficulty or is in need for help, other than academic support.

“It is to be stressed that such trends often manifest deeper psychological or emotional trauma or difficulties, and what is important is to understand the core reason for engaging in such behaviour,” the spokesperson further told www.di-ve.com.

Given that the internet is probably the main source from where the emo subculture is being derived -- and therefore it is relatively easy for the students to come across and get entangled into it -- the spokesperson was asked whether access to the internet is harmful to children.

However, he dismissed such an argument and stressed on the need of educating students to evaluate and critically think about the consequences of their decisions and behaviour, including the way in which they use the internet.

”Like everything else in life, all tools can be extremely useful but may also be abused of. Medicine is a wonderful ‘tool’ for healing the human being; however, mankind has managed to abuse of this in the form of substance abuse. The internet is a wonderful educational tool, however, has also been manipulated and can be harmful if misused.

“The solution is not to remove internet access but to educate the responsible adults on how to monitor their children,” he concluded.

Chav versus Emo division dramatised

Interesting...

The Weston Mercury - Modern twist on Shakespeare classic
20 November 2007

TWO star-crossed lovers in sovereign rings and studded belts will meet on stage in Cheddar next month.

Kings of Wessex School has chosen to give the Shakespeare classic Romeo and Juliet a modern twist depicting the Capulets and Montagues as 'chavs' and 'emos'.

Actors from year nine are preparing to get loved up for the production, which takes place on December 6 and 7.

The cast of more than thirty students, including Ben Champion as Romeo and Sophie Caunt as Juliet, will take to the stage four hundred years after the original play was written.

This modern version includes songs from Hard-Fi, Massive Attack and Justin Timberlake and draws loosely on school life.

Tickets, priced £3 for adults and £2 for students and concessions, are available at the school office.

In fact this idea has been used before:

Goths, chavs and Hell's Kitchen for Shakespeare - Times Online

June 27, 2005

IT’S Shakespeare but the Bard might not recognise it. A Winter’s Tale is now a battle between chavs and goths while the BBC has signed Twiggy to appear in a modern Taming of the Shrew. On Sunday, 10,000 children from 400 schools will take part in an event designed to energise Shakespeare’s works for the MTV generation. After a series of BBC sponsored workshops, they will perform 30-minute abridged versions of his plays at theatres across Britain to create a record-breaking One Night of Shakespeare...

Another school is using Twelfth Night to explore the issues of immigration and asylum, while the tragic jealousies of A Winter’s Tale are relocated to the teenage tribes of chavs and goths.

Why is this significant well it shows in two separate schools these rivalries seem worthy enough to dramatise.

SWEET program for students with individuality

The Geelong Advertiser

Danny Lannen

22Nov07

SWEET MATE: Students, from back left, Max Mitchell, Zac Janev, Sam Veal, Jason Janev, Mark Formosa, and Chia Wong Yen and, front, Chris Miller. Photo: ALISON WYND

THEY might have piercings, they might have long fringes, they might wear black and even eyeliner but don't call these teenagers emos, they're individuals.

Jackson, Chris, Chia, Sam, Zac and more, they're all part of the mix at Geelong's school for teenagers who couldn't quite find a fit in mainstream learning _ and they're over being stereotyped.

They say the way they choose to express their individuality means they are often at risk of being bullied.

``Kids in town recently tried to kick the cr ap out of me because of what I was wearing, a lot of people can't accept who you are because you look like someone else,'' Chris Miller, 16, said.

``They want you to be sheep and follow the flock.''

The kids know about acceptance because they've come from diverse backgrounds and met many personal challenges but they don't like carrying the emo tag. Emo is short for emotional and is used to describe a teen culture which is descended from Goth and characterised by the wearing of dark clothing, body piercings, lank hair over an eye and avid interest in metal and Goth music.

The teenagers from Diversitat's Success with Education, Employment and Training program, SWEET, reckon the term also comes with insinuation of depressive behaviour.

``Some people are actually proud of it (being called emo),'' Zac Janev said. ``We're not them. We're dressing how we dress for individuality.''

Many of the teenagers in the SWEET program have experienced bullying because of their choice of appearances and have lived with issues including homelessness, drug and alcohol use and mental health complications.

Trainer and youth worker Deb Isaacs said they focused strongly on respect during their studies in areas including literacy, numeracy, art, electives and environment.

``It's less school based and more jobs based, and we're all entitled to our opinions,'' Chris Miller said.

``We have this instead of dropping out of school and doing nothing. This is our corridor into the workforce.''

Flagship Shop Gets Only Three Shoppers A Day (from Lancashire Telegraph)

The shop owner involved in the recent anti goth Emo saga in Blackburn reveals his concerns. Sounds like he made a bad business move and now is blaming kids for his woes.

"Flagship shop gets only three shoppers a day By Tom Moseley

AN award-winning interior designer insists there is room for his store in Blackburn - despite admitting business has been poor. East Lancashire's 'king of wallpaper' John Wilman said that only three people a day were going into Pavilion Interiors, Church Street, after it opened 11 weeks ago. Among the items for sale are Aga cookers, which cost thousands of pounds, but only one has been sold, prompting fears that the high-class store is out of touch with the town centre. The shop is one of three occupying the council's flagship Pavilions buildings, restored at a cost of 1.3million in 2004. Mr Wilman, behind the Coloroll wallpaper brand in the 1980s and 1990s, insisted there was a place for the store in the town.
He claimed parking problems and building work were also hitting trade, and has recently hit out at gangs of so-called 'emos' and 'goths' who he said were putting off customers." more
Flagship Shop Gets Only Three Shoppers A Day (from Lancashire Telegraph): Oct 31st

Tasmanian goth and emos attacked

THREE Hobart victims of bullies have blamed subculture rivalry for attacks on them and fear there may be a turf war. The trio were all assaulted last Thursday in three separate incidents around the city centre. Nathan, 18, was bashed unconscious in the Hobart bus mall on Thursday afternoon and collapsed to the ground covered in blood. Soon after, Michael, 15, was punched in the face and then pushed up against a bus near Franklin Square. Then Sebastian, 18, was hit on the back of the head by a group outside the Commonwealth Bank in Liverpool St. The three have said the bullies are a group of 'bogans' who target those from the alternative scene, such as 'emos' and 'goths'. " Read more...

Bashing victims' fears of turf war | Mercury - The Voice of Tasmania: "Bashing victims' fears of turf war Article from: The Mercury MARIA RAE November 07, 2007

Find out about Bogans (roughly UK townies/chavs without the track suits) here:

Bogan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Emo under attack or attacking itself?

The same paper which told us Emos are under attack in Tasmania a few days ago said back in May that Emo is connected to self harm.

The Mercury: Fears for teens :

"HOBART teenagers are being drawn to a youth subculture which actively promotes self-harm. The Emo movement, which grew out of the punk movement in the 1980s, recently hit the national news when two Victorian girls who had links to the subculture committed suicide. The movement also made the headlines in March when South Australian police investigating the murder of 15-year-old Carly Ryan uncovered a trail of internet-based Emo message boards and websites involving bondage, suicide and drug use. Tasmanian Catholic Schools Parents and Friends Federation president Bill Button said parents were very concerned about Emo culture. 'I reckon the Emo culture is more prevalent than people realise or want to face and is becoming even more prevalent because of the internet,' Mr Button said. 'Parents are concerned because all of a sudden their child, if they have access to a computer, can turn into an Emo.' Department of Health and Human Services Community Resilience and Mental Health Promotion project officer Dion Butler said the popularity of the subculture was growing in Hobart.

But it is not unique to Hobart," Mr Butler said.

"It is also very strong on the mainland where often the term Emo is seen as an insult.

"Emo stands for very emotional, and so, Emos are seen by some to be very depressed individuals with a mental-health issue.

"The reality is that apart from the self-harm issue the Emo subculture is no different from any other youth subculture and is really about young people finding a place to belong," Mr Butler said.

"Indeed it can be argued that all youth subcultures have both positive and negative effects. For example, the sports culture is seen to be positive for youth, but to an extent it encourages drinking."

Mr Butler said the only real concern was the self-harm issue.

"I understand that some Emo groups require youth to cut themselves as an initiation -- if they don't cut, they can't join," Mr Butler said.

"However, self-harm is not an exclusive Emo practice. An alarming number of teenagers engage in it, but it does appear that teenagers who identify as being Emo are more likely to engage in self-harm because of the Emo culture."

Queensland psychiatrist Graham Martin, who started researching the Emo movement when a relative started dressing in their style, agreed there were positive and negative aspects to the subculture.

"We know that young people who are resilient and connected to a group are largely protected from behaviours like self-harm and suicide," Dr Martin said.

"So the fact young people are connected to some sort of group is positive. My concern is that this subculture is about the joining together of disaffected young people who are often angry and distressed about their lives. They are then in a position where they rely only on that group and don't seem to reach out to other avenues for help."

Dr Martin said his research, particularly online, had blown him away.

"What I found was an incredible mix of extraordinary information," he said.

"There was material that was fun, material that was very intellectual and material that was absolutely horrible -- like pictures of knives and wrists with dotted lines drawn on them."

Dr Martin said he feared young people who identified with the Emo subculture were at greater risk of self-harm.

"A UK study on the Goth subculture found there was a significantly increased risk for self-harm within members of this group.

"Emos become enraged with people who suggest they are similar to Goths -- they say the distinction is that Emos hate themselves and Goths hate everyone -- but, as the reported incidence of cutting behaviours is said to be a key feature of Emo culture, the risk appears to be there."

Dr Martin said parents should not panic. "Parents should see it as a sign their child feels they can no longer talk to them and make an effort to resolve that by really listening to what their child wants to say."

Dr Martin said the community should also be concerned that growing numbers of young people felt alienated from society.

"We have to provide an environment which lets these young people talk and be heard before this gets out of hand."

Fears for teens | Mercury - The Voice of Tasmania: "May 20, 2007 12:00am

Of course it brings up the infamous British Medical Journal article which did not prove "there was a significantly increased risk for self-harm within members of this group.[ie goths]"

It proved that in a small sample of Glasgow goth teenagers more had indulged in self harm at some point in their lives than other people in the survey. Most of them did it before they became goths. So you can argue that goth actually stops self harm. See Goth stops self harm

Plus half the stuff this expert looked at online was probably a joke. I mean a statement like "they say the distinction is that Emos hate themselves and Goths hate everyone" is just nonsense. I mean there are a number of silly anti-emo websites which claim they spend time cutting themselves constantly many are not by emos. It is just a stereotype, one that some emos promote themselves as well: either because they have a sense of humour and are doing it with a satirical intent or because they take themselves too seriously and use self harm as a fashion statement. This it must be stressed is a minority, for the majority emo is about community, music and clothes and they are sick of the connection to self harm.

As noted in earlier posts professionals have consistently noted self-harm problems cannot be confined to any particular sub culture. If it was then it would be easily solved in fact it can affect any person and their clothing style is irrelevant.

The real danger is in articles like this is they it can be used as justification by thugs. If you look at anti-emo rants online most of them claim emos need to be stamped out because they self-harm. The logic is brilliant: Emos self harm therefore you have a right to harm them.
Exactly the same route is being followed as what happened after Columbine which intensified the hassle goth and metal teens faced.

It seems the murder of Carly Ryan seems to have sparked off a whole moral panic in Australia. Needs further investigation.

Fox 11 News Undercover: EMO SCENE KIDS!

In May 2007 Fox News went undercover to expose a new development in the United States, Emo. As you might expect it is somewhat inaccurate, but it is an interesting report in that it examines the cult of emo bashing, including some online videos of attacks, rather than going on about self harm for a change. It notes the noticeable prejudice from punks, metalers, and even goths against emo kids which is so obvious online.

At first I thought it was more of a US thing in that although in the UK members of other subcultures certainly are often pretty scathing of emo music, they don't go so far as suggesting beating them up is a good idea. (Well the ones I know don't). But looking into it more closely this type of intoleraance is more serious in the UK than I thought. Of course while much of this type of online emo bashing is meant in a humorous way, it seems not just intolerant to me but is absurd. I am not the greatest fan of certain types of Emo music, but why should other alternative people slag them off consistently and even threaten them? This whole hate crime legislation plan is not going to work if it has to be used to stop metalers hating Emos.

The real problem is that the idea of emo bashing has become popular amongst those who are the real threats to alternative people. Certainly if you talk to UK teenage metalers, skaters and goths they generally see emos as allies locally against the townie/chav threat. To add to the problem is the fact that that media when looking for info on Emos often find some of the vast number of anti-emo satire sites, take them for the real thing and believe all emos spend all their time indulging in self harm, suicide and being depressed (which exactly what they said about goth from 1982-2002).

If people from alternative subcultures cannot tolerate each other because of musical differences then they really are in trouble.

BBC Casualty with bullied emo

BBC Hospital drama Casualty episode "As One Door Closes...'" Saturday, October 27 2007 20:20 on BBC One featured some emo teens being bullied and one being stabbed.

There is a similar plotline in Hollyoaks at the moment with a bullied emo.

Emo/Goth suicide/selfharm sterotype incorrect

The idea of the gloomy teen dressed in black cutting herself is an ongoing stereotype but a US report from a conference of experts dismisses this as a deceptive idea likely to distract people from the real problem:

Parents and school staff often have a perception of self-injury that is connected to listening to gloomy music and wearing black. The perception says if you skateboard or listen to emo band Dashboard Confessional, you are more likely to slice your arms with scissors.

If only it were that simple.

Out of context, singing along to Gerard Way, of rock group My Chemical Romance, and his "songs that make you slit your wrists," can seem new and troubling to parents who were never fans of Pink Floyd, Nick Drake, or the blues.

But saying self-injury can be contained within one clique of kids, one group of fans of one type of music, galls those who have been there. "The quiet ones? You can't tell," said the Mayfield girl. "It's hard to tell who's doing it or not."

Nor does the perception, however prevalent, hold water, say the experts. Those who self-injure can -- are -- also the jazz-band members, pre-mission Mormons, theater kids and cheerleaders. Poland said those who self-injure tend to be "likable, functional and intelligent kids, but they break down under stress."

Self mutilation: Some teens hurt themselves to deal with emotional pain

Pity those who made the Channel News telecommunications news report on a US survey announced this summer on security dangers on the internet for children didn't know this. Besides paedophiles and viruses the report on the survey warned parents that increasing numbers of children were visiting "gothic" websites with supposedly disastrous consequences. The report supposedly claimed that Emo is in fact a sub branch of Goth with rather than being entirely separate, as most goths and emos claim see quotes below:

Webroot online security report 2007 19/07/07

Webroot Software says its new research shows a disconnect between parents and their children regarding Internet usage.
The report which corroborates existing concerns regarding the online activities of children ages 5 to 17, uncovers a number of discrepancies among children's self-reported online activities versus what parents believe them to be. The report further discusses potential legal implications and security risks parents may face due to their children's online behaviour and best practices for ensuring a safe online experience for children...

* More and more young people are turning to websites celebrating 'gothics' and promoting self-harm - the most recent popular websites attracting a new cult of young gothics - the 'Emo' - for Emotional Goths.

The full report can be downloaded here:
http://www.webroot.com/resources/sois/excerpt.html

Yet the actual report doesn't mention anything about emos or goths at all.

Death in Totton - when namecalling ended in a stabbing

In Hampshire the ending of a recent trial for murder on the 24^th of October 2007 has led to the police patrolling the streets to prevent more violence. This trial was sparked by the very real divisions and problems we are covering here.

Aaron Roche 21, was acquitted of the charge of murder for fatally stabbing Dele Little, 15, of Powell Crescent, Totton, in a fight at West Totton Centre in February this year. The fight between the two was sparked by Little’s earlier fight with Roche’s girlfriend Kayleigh Shinn. The fight that developed was an unequal affair in that Little was larger, stronger and more skilled than his opponent despite being younger. According to his version of events when he was badly battered and on the floor Roche decided to draw a butterfly knife he was carrying, at this stage his hoodie was pulled up and he could not see properly. His opponent was then stabbed in the scuffle and later died . (Roche described the fight in court one of Little's mates gave his version here Court told how fight broke out).

What is generally not highlighted in the coverage was the flashpoint for the situation:

Roche, then 20, had run to the West Totton Centre after hearing that his girlfriend Kayleigh Shinn had been hurt and repeatedly pushed to the floor by youths.Miss Shinn - known as "La" to her friends - had gone to Tesco Express with her 17-year-old friend, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to buy cigarettes just before 9pm on Saturday, February 3 this year. The pair had spent the afternoon drinking WKD, Malibu and Jack Daniels in The Ship pub in Rumbridge Street, Totton, before making the short journey to the store from a nearby house.

Winchester Crown Court heard how when the girls left the shop they were verbally abused by a gang of up to 15 youths - mainly boys - who had congregated in a nearby circular area known locally as the "bull ring". Jurors heard how 6ft Dele was a "ringleader" in the group who were shouting and swearing and calling both girls "goths" before Miss Shinn was thrown "like a frisbee in the air" on to the ground.

Jurors heard how the 17-year-old girl sent text messages saying "help" and "La's been hurt" and minutes later Roche happened to call her mobile and she told him what was happening. report

Here are more details as described by Shinn’s Teenage friend in court:

The girl told the court yesterday she had gone to the area with 18-year-old Kayleigh Shinn, who she had spent the afternoon drinking with at The Ship pub in Rumbridge Street, Totton, to buy cigarettes from Tesco Express. As they walked out of the store the girl told Winchester Crown Court how they were verbally abused, sworn at and called "goths".

Miss Shinn was then knocked to the ground before she got herself up, clutching a stick which she was waving at the boys. The girl said she watched as Miss Shinn was "chucked on the floor again with a lot more force" by Dele Little adding "she looked like a frisbee going through the air".

Another witness stated that:

The girl had also been at the centre with friends when the trouble flared between Dele and Kayleigh Shinn. Jurors heard how the girl, who was 14 at the time, remembered Miss Shinn telling Dele "my boyfriend's not going to be happy with you" and shouting "my boyfriend will come down and kill him" but she didn't take what she was saying seriously. Asked about the argument, she said Dele and his friends had been calling Miss Shinn and her 17-year-old friend "emo's" - a way of describing how someone dresses - before the stabbing on the night of Saturday, February 3. "I'm struggling to breathe," the last words of stabbed Dele

Here is another report from from another witness from the Echo:

Teenager in tears as she recalls Dele's dying moments

The girl said she had been with her friends in "the bullring" by the West Totton Centre on the night of Saturday, February 3 when Dele and his mates got into an argument with two girls. She told the court "It was verbal for quite a while but then it got a bit physical" adding that the argument continued for about three minutes.

She said: "The girl (Kayleigh Shinn) started to get really angry and she walked off to get a plank of wood. She was warning him not to say anything else or touch her because she would hit him with it and he said don't me silly. You're not going to do that.' She went to sling the plank of wood to hit Dele and Dele reached out and slung the wood and she hit the floor."

Newspaper reports published at the time of the death of Dele Little in Febuary Teen killed for being a 'Chav' | Metro.co.uk draw a picture, based on talking to Dele’s friends :

Dele and his friends were outside a shopping centre in Totton, Southampton, when the attack happened on Saturday. A friend, who asked not be named, said: 'A girl walked past, shouting and calling us chavs. She tried to hit Dele with a block of wood. Dele pushed her.' The 15-year-old added: 'She came back and started hitting him again. She phoned her boyfriend on her mobile. He turned up and started a fight. Dele was stabbed. There was blood everywhere.'

Roche, an ex-public schoolboy, drew on a wide variety of character witnesses in the trial testifying to his good character, which helped balance out the fact he had a large collection of knives at home and that several witnesses testified that he had earlier before the fight threatened to stab Little. In contrast Little’s background involved being in trouble before with the police for fighting, assault, bullying and he was excluded from school. Following Roche's acquittal there were: High visibility police patrols in Totton following murder verdict. Websites were censored due to various threats of vengeance. The trial has also helped spark a campaign to end knife carrying . Obviously an end to use of weapons would make Britain a safer place and is an excellent plan.

Yet it seems to me from what happened in Totton another thing is equally clear - that the flashpoint of the original argument was due to the perceived differences between Little’s group and Roche’s girlfriend and her friend and the verbal abuse and aggression that followed. If these minor differences in clothes had been ignored, and both sides had tolerated and respected each other, no fight would have occurred in first place and Dele Little would still be alive and safe with his friends and family. The same is also true of Sophie Lancaster.

Whether it is "chavs" abusing "goths" or vica versa it is equally wrong and as these events prove it can lead to tragedy. In a free country we must respect peoples right to live their own lives they way they choose. After all that is the freedom for which so many in British history have fought and died for. How many more people must die before this can be learned? Rest in Peace Dele Little I hope that no-one else must die before this pointless hatred ends.

More details here search the Echo archives:
Dele Little Trial 1 The Dele Little Trial 2
Dele Little - Online Memorial