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.

US Police target alternative teen

Mother claims police bullied their way into her home | Battle Creek Enquirer - www.battlecreekenquirer.com - Battle Creek, Mich.:
Sunday, December 9, 2007

Trace Christenson/The Enquirer

Charity Young holds her son, Matthew, with her son, Wesley Gilbert, at the front door of their home.

A Battle Creek woman complained Friday that police used strong-arm tactics when they raided her home this week searching for bomb-making materials.

Charity Young, 33, said police with guns and wearing black masks pushed through her front door and scared her and her 2-year-old son as they searched the house during an investigation into bomb threats at Battle Creek Central High School.

"They grabbed my shirt and were screaming in my face," Young said. "I didn't have time to cooperate because I didn't know what they wanted me to do."

She said she was pushed into a chair, aggravating a back problem, as police searched her house.

Officers pulled down an American flag on the front door, stepped on her couch and left the doors open to the winter air, she said.

A security officer and law enforcement student, Young said the incident has changed her attitude about police.

"I am thinking about giving up my dream. I wanted to be an officer, but if they are training officers to terrorize women and small children, I will not do it," she said.

Members of the Emergency Response Team and the Bomb Unit obtained the warrant to search the house in the 200 block of Laurel Avenue for evidence in recent bomb threats at Battle Creek Public Schools, Lt. Duane Knight said after the raid.

Nine threats have been reported at the high school and two middle schools since Nov. 26, including two on Nov. 28 that canceled classes at the high school.

Detective Sgt. Todd Madsen said the search warrant was obtained after at least three students reported hearing Young's son, Wesley Gilbert, 16, and a sophomore at Battle Creek Central make statements about the bomb threats.

"He made statements about making bombs," Madsen said Friday. "We raided the home for the protection of the community."

Police did not find any bomb-making materials, Madsen said, and nothing was seized.

But he said the investigation is continuing and he expects investigators to seek a warrant for Gilbert.

Gilbert said he did not make any statements about bombs and is not responsible for the bomb threats.

He said he has been targeted because he wears Goth clothing and because he was vocal last year about the lack of security at the high school.

Gilbert was suspended from school Thursday after several of his friends threatened two of the students who alleged they heard his comments about bombs. He said he did not encourage his friends' actions.

Madsen said officers knocked on the door and waited for Young to open it before they entered the house. He denies officers were rough with Young, her 2-year-old son, Matthew, or her boyfriend, Bert Howe, 43.

"This was the slowest and most patient and methodical entry we have made in 1,000 entries of the Emergency Response Team," he said. "But we are not going to turn a blind eye to this. We want to stay on top of it."

The Legacy of Columbine continues.

Long hair

The Grant Stranghan case looks likely to have significant legal implications. For those who think this case is irrelevant in fact there are number of other interesting cases to consider as this post will show.

Long hair case may be headache for schools - Local & National - News - Belfast Telegraph

Friday, December 07, 2007

By Lisa Smyth

A row over an Ulster pupil's hairstyle could have massive legal implications for schools across Northern Ireland, it was claimed today.

George Stranaghan is planning to take a case to the High Court after his 15-year-old son, Grant, was given a three-day suspension from Ballyclare High School because his hair was two inches long. Since returning to school - almost two weeks ago - the teenager has been kept isolated from his classmates.

If Mr Stranaghan is successful in his legal bid, schools across Northern Ireland could be hit with thousands of similar challenges - potentially spelling an end to the traditional school uniform.
Even if schools insist on pupils wearing a uniform, a victory for Mr Stranaghan could mean a discipline nightmare for principals at schools across the province.

A number of high profile cases have been brought before the courts in England, mainly relating to pupils who wish to dress according to their religious beliefs or wear religious symbols, such as a crucifix.

However, it is believed to be the first time anyone has applied for a judicial review in Northern Ireland in a fight over a pupil's refusal to cut their hair. GCSE student Grant was originally suspended from school on November 21. He returned to school on November 26 but since then he has been kept isolated from other pupils at the school, including at breaktimes.

Mr Stranaghan is applying for leave for a judicial review into the matter and asking for his son to be allowed to return to class, claiming that he is suffering sexual discrimination, as well as a breach of his human rights.

Rosemary Craig, a lecturer in law at the University of Ulster, said she believed schools will be watching the outcome of the case with great interest.

"It could have great ramifications," she explained.

"If you are going to have girls with long hair, then in terms of equality, boys must also be allowed to have long hair.

"If girls have ear-rings, in order to be strictly fair the same must apply to boys and, say, if a girl came in with her head shaved would they suspend her? Can a boy come in with his head shaved? You are going to have strict rules and have to make sure every parent signs up to them.

"Schools are going to have draw up exhaustive lists of what children can and cannot wear. They are going to spell out exactly what children can and cannot wear."

Seamus Searson, Northern Ireland organiser of the NASUWT, said he believes that uniforms play an important role in ensuring equality and a sense of belonging to a school.

"This has the potential to make schools very difficult to manage and discipline children," he said.

"The purpose of uniform and a dress code is to instil discipline in the children, as well as giving them some self-respect by removing some of the differences from the children."

A spokesman from Ballyclare High School said he would not make any further comment on the matter.

As it seems is willing to take the case to court we look at some recent legal cases. There were similar cases in Gloucestershire and Liverpool.

News - Gloucestershire - Schoolboy suspended for long hair

26 July 2006

The family of a boy suspended from a Gloucester school for refusing to cut his hair took legal action to force his re-instatement.

Sam Grant, aged 16, was suspended from Sir Thomas Rich School after refusing to cut his hair short.

The teenager, who has mixed-race parents, said he grew his hair to prevent racist remarks from pupils.

He was allowed back after his parents challenged the school saying the ban had affected their son's schoolwork.

The reaction of the school was ridiculous and we were totally shocked at its inflexibility Stephen Grant, father

Sam said: "It's easier and friendlier for people to comment on my hair and call me 'mophead' or something like that rather than derogatory names."

"I'm mixed-race and I found that having longer hair ended remarks of a racist nature."

Sam's father, solicitor Stephen Grant, said the school had discriminated against him on grounds of sex and race and that the rule was old-fashioned.

"The reaction of the school was ridiculous and we were totally shocked at its inflexibility and failure to engage in meaningful debate about the underlying issues."

Mediation agreed

He added: "I understand they have school rules but to suspend him from coming back to school unless he cut his hair was draconian.

"Pupils committing acts of theft and damage received less severe disciplinary sanctions."

The incident started in March 2005, when Sam and a number of other boys were told to get their hair cut.

When he refused he was suspended at the end of June for 10 days.

His father applied for an injunction blocking the suspension but as part of the proceedings both parties agreed to mediation which resulted in Sam being allowed to finish his GCSEs.

A spokeswoman for Sir Thomas Rich School said she could not comment under the terms of an agreement reached on the case with the family.

Sam has since left the school, and plans to study for his A-levels at another location.

News - Merseyside - Long hair lock-out in Liverpool

Thursday, 2 March 2006

Two young brothers suspended from their school for having long hair have branded the ban as sexist.

A number of pupils were sent home after half term from St Margaret's Church of England School, Aigburth, Liverpool, for having hair past their collars.

Christian Bridge, 14, who refused to get his hair cut, was not allowed into lessons this week. His brother Dominic, 16, also faces a ban.

Head teacher Dr David Dennison said all pupils knew the school's rules.

A number of boys who flouted the rule were warned to get their hair cut over half term.

There's no way a girl would be told to keep her hair to collar-length Christian Bridge

The school, which only admits girls in the sixth form, declined to confirm how many pupils were suspended after the break.

At least one pupil, Christian Bridge, refused to cut his hair, and was excluded.

Christian, who wants to grow his shoulder-length hair another six inches, said: "Before all this, we had a verbal agreement that I would keep my hair tied back, and I always did.

Academic standards

"There's no way a girl would be told to keep her hair to collar-length, so why should they tell boys? It is sexist."

Both Christian and his brother Dominic, who also has long hair, are backed by their mother.

But Dr Dennison said: "St Margaret's has an excellent reputation for high standards in respect of personal and academic standards.

"Parents are aware of these expectations on application and are regularly reminded of them by newsletter."

News - Tayside and Central - Pub worker wins sacking damages

14 Feb 2007

A kitchen porter sacked for his unkempt appearance at work has been awarded compensation totalling £6,361. An employment tribunal ruled that Brian Phin, who had long hair and wore earrings, was unfairly dismissed.

He claimed waitresses at the Deacon Brodies pub in Dundee with a similar appearance were allowed to work there.Bearded Mr Phin was also discriminated against on the grounds of sex. The pub, run by Rosecrown Ltd at the time, is now under new management. Mr Phin, whose hair was about 12ins (30cm) long at the time, had agreed to keep his beard tidy, his hair in a hair net and remove his earrings after being given a third warning from his employer.



Tidy-hair policy does not discriminate against Rastafarians, says Employment Agency Tribunal
OUT-LAW News, 18/10/2007

Rastafarians are protected by UK laws that ban workplace discrimination on the grounds of philosophical belief. But a tidy-hair policy does not discriminate against someone with dreadlocks, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled.

Free OUT-LAW Breakfast Seminars, UK-wide. 1:The new regime for prize draws and competitions. 2:How to monitor staff legallyA Rastafarian called J Harris worked as an executive driver for NKL Automotive. When he lost his job, he brought a tribunal claim for direct and indirect discrimination on the grounds of his philosophical beliefs, and also victimisation discrimination. His claims were rejected and he appealed against the finding that there was no indirect discrimination or victimisation discrimination.

The Rastafari movement emerged in Jamaica in the 1930s. Followers believe dreadlocks to be supported by a Nazirite vow that appears in the Bible: "All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow."

The tribunal accepted that Rastafarianism is a philosophical belief, and that it is similar to a religious belief and therefore protected under the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations (The Regulations were passed in 2003 and have since been extended to cover philosophical beliefs, whether similar to religious beliefs or not. But they had not been extended at the time when Harris lost his job.)

Harris had been supplied to NKL by an agency. NKL expressed concerns to a Mr Jones, who worked for the agency, that Harris's hair was untidy and that he did not represent the company well. NKL's dress code stated that drivers "should have a smart professional haircut and should ensure hair is tidy".

Harris complained to Mr Jones that he was not getting as much work as other agency drivers and complained that, unlike some other agency workers, he had not been taken on as a full-time employee. He believed he was being discriminated against because of his hair, which he wore in dreadlocks, "in accordance with his Rastafarian beliefs".

The tribunal found that the company "did not object to long hair as such … but they did insist upon a tidy appearance." Harris's hair grew more matted – and the tribunal said that it "must have reached a stage where it was unacceptably untidy in terms of NKL's dress code".

But the prejudice against long hair also ties into other forms of discrimination as this report on the problems Sikhs face shows

Racism force Sikhs to cut hair in UK-Rest of World-World-The Times of India

25 Nov 2006,

LONDON: Increasing numbers of racially motivated attacks have forced some Sikh teenagers in Britain to shed their long hair and turbans but many from the community also do so to fit in with their local surroundings.

While some groups in Britain believe that young, westernised Sikhs have long been reluctant to adhere to traditional disciplines, Sikh students say that increasing numbers of racially motivated attacks have had a significant impact on their attitudes.

Dalwinder Singh, an executive board member of the student group said, "We do get a lot of young kids trimming their hair because they see how they are treated.”

"For example, they find that they can't take part in certain things at school and they just don't want to stand out. And the attacks that have been in the news have definitely had an effect. Teenagers just want to fit in with what society is doing," he told The Times.

There are good arguments for dress code in school but hair length since it takes a considerable amount of time to alter is very different thing to wearing jewellery or makeup which can be simply be removed or altered at will. Hair is very much a symbol of personal identity which is exactly why hair cutting has been used as a symbol of punishment and shame down the ages. It is interesting to note that in English conquest of Ireland saw persistent attempts to ban the wearing of long hair by men. Clearly this school controversy continues a long tradition.

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"....

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.

BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Fury as long-haired son suspended

BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Fury as long-haired son suspended
Tuesday, 27 November 2007,

A 15-year-old rock music fan suspended from school for refusing to cut his long hair says he will not back down.

Grant Stranaghan, a GCSE student at Ballyclare High, was suspended for three days last week for having collar-length hair.

Upon his return, he was excluded from class for still not getting a hair cut.

His father George said: "I could have cried when he told me what they did to him - they put him in a room and threw work at him, no contact with anyone."

"This is Northern Ireland in 2007. Solitary confinement, I think it's called - he did say he got plenty of work done, but I don't think it's fair."

I would be depressed without my hair Grant Stranaghan

Mr Stranaghan, from Rathcoole in Newtownabbey, has threatened legal action, saying the school is in breach of British law, European law and gender laws.

Year 11 pupil and rock music fan Grant told the BBC's Nolan Show that his long hair is a crucial part of his personal identity.

"I don't see why I should get my hair cut for them - it is my hair, my natural appearance and I don't think it's within their right to tell me to get my hair cut. I would be depressed without my hair - I've had it cut short before and I feel really bad for weeks afterwards, it's not a good experience."

School principal David Knox said there was never any intention to cause a stand-off.

He said Grant had been suspended because he was in breach of school regulations, adding that he would discuss the matter further with Mr Stranaghan.

More background here:

Not an inch - Local & National - News - Belfast Telegraph

Mr Stranaghan believes his son should not have to conform to what he deems draconian regulations.

The 45-year-old historian and Loughside Football Club coach said: "Grant is a great wee lad. We have never had any problems with him at all. In 12 years at school there has been nothing. His attendance at school is exemplary.

"He is just a normal lad. He is into that type of music, rock music where they all have long hair. He is very quiet and doesn't bother anyone."

Grant's hair is two inches below his collar - a breach of the school rules which state boy's hair must be above the collar. Added Mr Stranaghan: " I don't think two inches of hair should affect 12 years of education. Why should he have to cut his hair? I can't make him get his hair cut.

"What am I supposed to do, hold him down or go in with a pair of scissors when he is asleep?

"We did take him to get it cut but it wasn't enough and he was really annoyed at having to get it cut up to the length it is. He doesn't want to cut it any more. He has offered to tie it back in a pony tail but they are having none of it.

"It's against every law in the land to make him do something he doesn't want to."

But Mr Stranaghan said: "I'll take this the whole way. They are breaking every rule in British law, European law and in terms of gender law."


In a statement released yesterday Ballyclare High School principal, David Knox, said: "A pupil was suspended under the School's Discipline policy for repeated and persistent breaches of the school rules.

" This action is unusual in this school where there is a high level of co-operation from our pupils. The suspension was for three days only and was imposed only after all other sanctions had failed to prompt a positive response.

"The pupil has now returned to school. I had hoped to discuss the way forward with his parents, but they declined to meet me this morning, Monday, November 26 to discuss the matter and have declined to meet me tomorrow morning.

"The school has at all times attempted to be reasonable while implementing the policies of the Board of Governors who represent parents, teachers and the community."

A text poll on yesterday's Nolan Show on BBC Radio Ulster revealed that 69% of listeners thought Grant should cut his hair and get on with doing his GCSEs.

The poll on the bbc site above is currently supporting Grant.

More links:

Pupil suspended for refusing to have his hair cut - Belfast Today

Legal advice to be sought over pupil's suspension - Belfast Today

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.''

Mix it up Day - USA

It was Mix It up day in the States yesterday an attempt to break down divisions between racial and social groups, including subcultural ones. It is a long standing idea in the States starting in 2002. Now more than 10,000 schools are involved.

ABC News 4 Charleston - Mixing Up Racial And Social Divides At Hanahan Middle School
Tuesday November 13, 2007 5:40pm Reporter: Renee Williams

Hanahan, S. Carolina - Hanahan Middle School participates in Mix It Up at Lunch Day, a national social experiment aimed at teaching students tolerance.

Think back, way back to your middle school lunch time. You’re sitting with the same friends, day in and day out and being a part of your group. Now imagine this- taking all of that and turning it upside down.

“Students are going to come in. They're going to take the initiative to sit with someone they don't know well,” Elizabeth Scarbrough says.

She’s the one who organized the school’s Mix it Up at Lunch Day. In other words, they’re mixing it up and changing who they talk to everyday. The students are also making new friends while breaking up old cliques.

“Some kids are left out they don't have many friends and then you have some groups who are friends with everybody,” eighth grader Nick Zerbst says.

Mix it Up at Lunch aims to break the harsh social divide of middle school.
The experiment tries to melt the jocks with the goths and the popular kids.
It’s not always easy to just strike up a conversation with someone you don't know. To help break the ice, the kids came up with questions to ask each other like do you like Clemson or Carolina or do you play sports? Even with the ice breakers the nerves are obvious.

“People are trying to be popular. People feel left out they can't really make friends because they're all shy,” adds eighth grader Kenneth Spear.

Whether they’re shy or not, more than 200 students pledged to give it a try. “Here's the 6th grade doing it. It’s really working well. Maybe someone in a higher social status can bring them up,” Zerbst says.

Middle school kids typically divide themselves along gender, racial and economic lines. They learn those divides early on. So these kids are pledging and promising to cross age old boundaries, if only for one day. “These prejudices and these cliques actually start to form at age three to its very important that we catch them at the middle school age,” adds Scarbrough.

SPLCenter.org: Millions take part in fourth annual Mix It UpDecember 2005

Fourth- and 5th-graders in Sweetwater, Texas, embrace the spirit of Mix It Up.
(Bruno at Holly Kuper Photography)
SWEETWATER, Texas -- When 350 intermediate students Mixed It Up here, spirits rose as high as their red, white and blue helium balloons

"That's what I love about 4th- and 5th-graders," said school counselor and Mix It Up at Lunch Day facilitator Melissa Howard. "They are still so into everything."

In 2005, the number of participants also rose -- dramatically. Across the nation on November 15, and estimated four million students at 9,000 schools took part in the fourth annual Mix It Up at Lunch Day. That's a 50 percent increase from 2004, when 4 million students took part nationwide.

Mix It Up, part of the Center's Teaching Tolerance program, asks students to swap seats in the school cafeteria -- one of the most self-segregating settings in the nation. Football players sit with football players; cheerleaders, with cheerleaders. Band members at the table in the corner; Goths at one table; Spanish-speaking students at another.

Consider how a high school senior from Phoenix described her school cafeteria on this year's Mix It Up at Lunch Day: "That section over there is where the jocks usually sit, and this part by the benches is where the skaters are, and then the gangs are all along the walls."

A 9th-grader from Oregon took part in a discussion about school cliques on Mix It Up at Lunch Day and came away with a deeper understanding.

"I learned they (various school cliques) don't really talk to each other," she said. "It's important to get groups to mingle. In the real world, you have to mingle whether you want to or not."

On Mix It Up Day, clearly, some do not. In Philadelphia, one high school student called it "annoying." In Florida, one student called it "childish," labeling participants "losers."

"The resistance is a clear sign of why the program is so important," said Tafeni English, director of the Mix It Up program. "Mix It Up is about social boundaries, and those boundaries don't dissolve in a single day or a single moment. But every time we get some students talking and thinking about the boundaries, we're taking steps in the right direction."...

POEM: Vegetable Soup

April 19, 2006 -- Two students at King George High School in Virginia write about the various social cliques in their school.

by Katie Newton and Laura McKinnon


King George High School is full of cliques

"The Wall," the Goths and the hot chicks.

It's hard enough to be a teen

Without having to deal with these kids - they're mean!

First of all, you've got "The Wall"

A sea of darkness, always having a ball.

Getting their kicks from picking on us

They laugh and they point, and they even cuss.

I know the teachers aren't hearing impaired

But they won't say anything 'cause they're too scared.

The Goths are the next crowd; they stay to themselves

Some dress like vampires, and some like dark elves.

They hate their lives, and the world, and us,

They won't be happy until their wounds seep pus.

The hot chicks are last because they're the worst

If you're not skinny and blonde consider yourself cursed.

Malibu Barbies with their fake tans

Always succeeding in stealing our "mans."

I want to break free

And then there are ones like me.

I have a friend in every group,

Like a giant pot of vegetable soup.

Carrots, peas and noodles, too,

I like being vegetable soup.

What kind of soup are you?

Some interesting comments from kids involved in the past. Lots more here:

Don't hate what you don't understand
Keala

Every one knows how the "goths" and the "preps" have hated each other for so many years now. I am considered a goth at my school, but I have friends from virtually every clique. I hate how people think if you are a certain way, you have to be friends with just that group! I dislike how the jocks make fun of my friends and how they torment us because we have an opinion. Most people think "goths" are suicidal, and that they worship Satan. Satanists worship Satan not "goths." I judge people but it's because when they hang out with others they become like that friend. I just hate how everyone hates "goths." Just because we are different doesn't mean you have to hate us. A great man once said "To be great is to be misunderstood" (Ralph Waldo Emerson) just as being different is to be great!

Another way to Mix It Up
Lindsey
It is true there are many cliques at our school, like the so-called 'gangster table' or the 'nerd table', but our lunch is only 25 minutes long, so one day would not create friendships. If it were my idea I would have it happen at least one Tuesday a month because once a year really wouldn't cut it, if you think about it. If it was held every Tuesday, then you would be forced to talk to them or exclude yourself, which shouldn't happen by the way. But instead of sitting at a new table every Tuesday, you could sit at the same color table and create friendships with those people, and after like 3 months they switch everyone, something like that.

Mix doesn't work
Bob
I HATE MIX IT UP DAY! ITS STUPID AND IT NEVER WORKS!

It was hard, but I did it
Jackie
Today at my school we had Mix It Up Day. It was very fun because we got to meet new people! Usually, I sit with my best friend, Marilyn. We always sit at the same table. It was very hard to do this but I did it. I am proud that I was brave enough to sit with totally different people whom I didn't know. Thank you for making this day exist!

Being judged sucks
Kim
In my school, people judge you by one thing: where you shop and what you wear. It's not, oh, you are so nice, or eh, you're really mean to everyone, or, you annoy me on purpose, it's that you shop here. I for one, shop at Hot Topic, a store that has been deemed rather "Gothic," but yet, has more leather alternatives than places like Wet Seal and Mervyn's, and most of the makeup in there has not been tested on animals. I am a vegetarian, in case you were wondering why I am talking about that sort of thing. People think I'm Gothic just because I shop there.

Most cliques in my school, really aren't defined by a name, it's just certain people. There's the normal people, who are more often than not popular; the freaks, who are just plain rude to everyone; the loser/skaters who made do good in school, but half of them are just, well, rather, odd; there are the skaters, the people that I hang out with some; the preps, the people who will do anything to make themselves look perfect; the potheads, people who do drugs; the sugar junkies, people who are just plain crazy; there's the jocks, who are obsessed with any kind of sport; fashionistas, people who love clothes; and then, there's what I've been defined as, a Gothic. Really though, I am a punk rock enviro skater. These cliques, aren't people I have judged. It's just where they fall in my school according to what they wear and how they act. I wear bondage pants (the big pants that have D-rings and straps on them) and because of that I'm Gothic. If you noticed, I put nothing down on Environmentally Conscious people, that's because I'm really the only one who cares about that in my school. I'm just me, and being judged differently sucks. It sucks hard.

Don't make us do it again
Damien
I'm using this little thing to tell you what I think about Mix It Up. I think its a waste of time and is not going to do anything but cause more problems. NO student I have talked to bout this said it was a good idea. There is talk of skipping lunch to avoid having to participate and also talk of deliberate defiance. I am one of the students who will NOT participate. I won't be forced to sit with people I don't like. I don't like people, not because of their differences, but because of their personality. If I was someone who sat by myself at lunch I wouldn't want people to sit with me because they had to, rather because they want to. I know I speak for a good 75% of my school when I say this is lame... don't make us do it again.

Lowest social group
Brittany
Mix It Up Day was ok for some students, but let me tell you, Mix It Up Day at Lunch did not go so well for me. I tried sitting with the "preppy" kids. But they just made fun of me and told me to go away. It doesn't matter how much you think it's a good thing, when a "goth" sits with a "prep" it doesn't go over very smoothly. It was a success for the older kids to sit with freshman and everything - kids sitting with other kids that aren't really different than them. But this was just... yeah. When the lowest social group sat with the highest at my school, it was not a good lunch.

PeaceJam brings food to Mix
Cornelia

I go to school at Tohatchi High School in New Mexico. I am in 11th grade. My group, PeaceJam, brought food for the people to eat in the classrooms. The students said it was nice to meet different students at our school. We got all the athletes, skaters and Goths to sit with the people they don't know. We had a good time with the students. But some of the students said they were shy because they don't know the students they were sitting by.

Mix was awesome
Kileigh

Mix-it-up-at-lunch day was awesome at my school. We each got a buddy to walk around with, and to hang out with in different groups. It was so fun. Everyone crossed the boundaries of preps, jocks, Goths, geeks, African Americans and those types of things. I met new people and have so many new friends now that I will never forget. I met some awesome people I would never have had the guts to go up to, and hang out with, on a normal day. It makes school such a better atmosphere when you know more people. I learned that all these people are so cool in their own ways and they all have their own types of fun. I hope this day becomes a tradition for my school district. I'll never forget this day! Thanks so much for the great idea!!

Racism and Religious Bigotry
By J.S.

I am a daughter of a United States Marine and because of that I have moved around the country a lot. I have seen and experienced many different things.

I have experienced racism, not from my white classmates, but from my black classmates. I have seen people blamed for things that are not in their control like a Wiccan at my school, who is harassed not only by kids, but in less obvious ways by teachers.

Right now my worst battle is not with anyone I know from school. It's from my mom. She thinks some of my friends are devil-worshippers just because they are goth, and when I told her some of them are actually Christians, she acted surprised!

When I told her that goths are actually some of the most tolerant and peaceful people I know because they don't care what religion, color, sexual orientation you are, she told me to shut up.

How's that for tolerance?

By C.

In my school there aren't many different groups such as freaks, geeks and wannabees, but there are some such as myself, a goth, and preps and the "in betweens" who really don't care. But even though there aren't that many groups there are A LOT of coflicts between us.

For example, when everyone found out I was a goth some preppies wanted to fight me that used to be my friends. I'm the only goth in my school and it's not surprising considering it's unfortunately a Catholic school. The reason that I go there is because I live with my aunt and uncle.

People are getting used to the idea, but I'm still hated by many people but I learn to ignore it!!!!

I'm a Pagan
By M.

I'm a Pagan. I live in a small town in Wisconsin. Everyone in my high school knows I'm pagan. At least the people who know who I am do.

I've gotten a lot of guff for being the religion that I am. I've been called devil worshiper, blair witch, Mrs. Cleo, etc... I've had people walk around me singing hymns from the Bible just to make me angry.

I believe they make fun of me simply because they are afraid of what they believe i stand for. None of them actually took the time or effort to understand what my beliefs were. I can't even count the times I've told the same people that I can't worship the devil when I don't believe he exists.

I try to explain to them what I am, but it just goes in one ear and out the other. All I want is to go to school not having to wonder what new name they're going to come up with, or what new plan they have to try and humiliate me with.

I don't think asking for the ability to go to school without having to defend my religion to everyone I meet is too much to ask, do you? I just want to make some people aware that pagans aren't bad, sure we have some people calling themselves witches who give us a bad name, but if you talk to a pagan -- a true pagan -- you'll find out otherwise. As our creed states "an it harm none, do what thou will." Thank you for reading my story, I hope you come away with a different point of view.

Don't judge lunchmates by their appearance
Amber

Everyday is a new experience for me! I used to sit at the same old lunch table day after day, but now it's a whole new change! I sit with a girl I met in named Kiritie, who now I am really close with. It's a Goth table with lots of unique people — very friendly — and I feel happy to sit and make new friends. I always look forward to sitting there. They make me feel at home! It's not all what you look like on the outside, it's what you have on the inside that counts. So don't just judge people and not consider sitting with them just because of the way they look and dress.

More details here at website which organises it.

Not Like Everyone Else - TV movie

This interesting sounding film highlights some of the problems faced by high school people bullying others,

Not Like Everyone Else
Randee Dawn

June 30, 2006

9 p.m. Monday, July 10 Lifetime There's a lot going on in Lifetime's new original movie, "Not Like Everyone Else," about the real-life struggle of Brandi Blackbear (Alia Shawkat), an Oklahoma teen expelled from school in 1999 for practicing witchcraft, who enlisted the ACLU to bring suit. In part it is a nightmare about teachers policing students; in part it is about civil rights; in part it is about "Mean Girls"/"Heathers" bullying outsiders/freethinkers; and in part it is a father-daughter reconciliation. But since it's a Lifetime movie, it really has to be about a woman standing up for her rights -- possibly the least relevant angle of this busy yet inert film. Executive produced by Lifetime regulars Michael Jaffe and Howard Braunstein, "Everyone Else" has moments. Brandi's mom (the delightful, earthy Illeana Douglas) accepts her Gothic, budding horror-writer daughter, and judicious use of handheld cameras lend scenes a documentary freshness. But "Everyone Else" fails to find its focus, and flat acting and tin-eared dialogue turn those scenes into an extended "Unsolved Mysteries" re-enactment. Blackbear's story -- which exposed the draconian measures visited on teens post-Columbine -- has a larger message to impart about jumping to conclusions in the skittish wake of tragedy. But next time, filmmakers should let Brandi write this particular horror story herself.

Media moves school shooting blame onto Internet

The ongoing saga of the blame for the Finland school shooting seems to have diverted at least in relation to blaming it on the music Pekka-Eric Auvinen was listening to. Instead reports are now focusing more on his use of youtube and the internet as a better target. Certainly Auvinen's ideas had some backing from stuff he found on the net but that is far from the entire story. See...

Don’t blame me, says girlfriend who
Times Online, UK - 10 Nov 2007
Yesterday she acknowledged that she had been the girlfriend of Pekka-Eric Auvinen, the 18-year-old Finnish student who last week launched a murderous ...

Finland school shooting - blamed on KMFDM

And remember that this is my war, my ideas and my plans. Don’t blame anyone else for my actions than myself. Don’t blame my parents or my friends. I told nobody about my plans and I always kept them inside my mind only. Don’t blame the movies I see, the music I hear, the games I play or the books I read. No, they had nothing to do with this. This is my war: one man war against humanity, governments and weak-minded masses of the world! No mercy for the scum of the earth! HUMANITY IS OVERRATED! It’s time to put NATURAL SELECTION & SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST back on tracks!

The Pekka-Eric Auvinen Manifesto..

The killing of eight people iby Pekka-Eric Auvinen is a tragic and sad development performed by a psychologicaly maladjusted individual. Yet the media seem bent on justifying his claim in his manifesto that modern society is stupid and manipulative.

There are now 1,337 news articles linking the killer to KMDFM. Check this out for an example:

German band KMFDM linked to Finnish school massacre
TV3 News, New Zealand - 4 hours ago Thu, 08 Nov 2007 05:21p.m.

The song the killer used in his video was Stray Bullet from the German industrial band KMFDM. The lyrics in the track include: "I'm your nightmare coming true / I am your worst enemy." And if that sounds familiar there is a reason. It is the same music and same lyrics the Columbine killers quoted.

One of those shooters, Eric Harris, posted the lyrics on his website before his shooting rampage. This raises the question: has the music of this band spurred another shooting, or has the Finnish gunman modelled himself on the Columbine killers?

The German band's name is an acronym that translates in full into English as "no pity for the masses". After the Columbine Massacre they issued a statement saying: "KMFDM are an art form - not a political party. From the beginning, our music has been a statement against war, oppression, fascism and violence against others."

Of course if he was not a real KMDFM fan had he absorbed KMDFM’s message he would never have shot anyone. They have spent the last few albums discussing the futility of war check out WWIII (2003). I notice that the article doesn't point out the wider context and full details.

In wake of the Columbine High School massacre it was revealed that lyrics to KMFDM songs ("Anarchy", "Power", "Son of a Gun", "Stray Bullet", "Waste") were posted on the website of shooter Eric Harris, and that the massacre coincided with the release date of the album Adios and the birthday of Adolf Hitler. In response to Columbine, Sascha Konietzko founding member of the band issued a statement the following day:

First and foremost, KMFDM would like to express their deep and heartfelt sympathy for the parents, families and friends of the murdered and injured children in Littleton. We are sick and appalled, as is the rest of the nation, by what took place in Colorado yesterday.

KMFDM are an art form — not a political party. From the beginning, our music has been a statement against war, oppression, fascism and violence against others. While some of the former band members are German as reported in the media, none of us condone any Nazi beliefs whatsoever.

The fact is Eric Harris also was a "social darwinist" killer who just like Pekka-Eric Auvinen felt he was above the people he murdered. Harris has a similar manifesto to Auvinen available online which mentions natural selection and weeding out the unfit. Most people don't know that because as we know Columbine was about the music the two supposedly listened too and the trenchcoats they supposedly wore (in fact neither of them even liked Marilyn Manson or goth and nor did they wear trenchcoats generally see Columbine - The Legacy of Hatred). Of course Auvinen was inspired by Harris he mentions he admires and studies serial killers in his manifesto and online. The use of the same KMFDM track was an obvious tribute to Harris and Auvinen's YouTube site included video footage of the Columbine school shootings alongside the 1993 Waco siege in the United States, the 1995 sarin gas attack in Tokyo, and bombs falling on Baghdad during the 2003 invasion plus WWII Nazi footage. It is classic case of a copycat killing one motivated not by music, but what appears to be a stupid philosophy created from extreme right wing and left wing rantings and previous sick crimes. Harris even wrote somewhere his choice of music should not be blamed for the killing just like Auvinen did. Interesting to note Auvinen carried out his massacre on Wednesday's 90th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia.

Well at least this semi-philosophical basis is what Auvinen wanted us to think was behind the crimes. Instead the truth is both in this case and Columbine those involved were too weak to handle everyday life and like bullies they supposedly despised they turned to violence. Auvinen's actions were probably as much to do with the fact his girl friend had left him as anything deeper.

Auvinen’s former girlfriend insisted that he was not crazy. “I have received many e-mails and phone calls claiming it is my fault and that I am a murderer because I rejected him,” said the 20-year old woman, who recently broke up with Auvinen.

The YouTube killer: eight die in schoolroom shooting massacre Times Online November 8, 2007

At least the Finnish are sensible enough to look at altering laws in the wake of the disaster.

Finland's gun laws to be examined after killings Euronews.net

After targeting his victims, Pekka Eric Auvinen turned the weapon on himself and later died in hospital. The shootings have sent a shock wave through Finland, which has the lowest crime rate in Europe.

But the popularity of hunting as a pastime means that 56 out of every hundred Finns have a gun - putting it third behind the US and Yemen in terms of ownership, according to research. The government has said it will now look at the issue of firearms legislation. Anyone aged 15 and over can apply for a licence in Finland if they can give a valid reason. The easiest way to do this is by joining a shooting or hunting club, as Auvinen did in October.

Violent incidents are rare at Finnish schools and metal detectors, common in the United States, are unheard of. An emergency centre has been set up in Tuusula where staff and students from the school are being offered counselling. Auvinen also posted a rambling manifesto online, describing himself as a "social darwinist" and "storm spirit".

The media are just looking for simplistic nonsense come up with this in The Times:

Tuusula shooting was a very Finnish affair

Rather ridiculous article if school shootings are so Finnish why is this only the second one ever despite 50% of households have a have a gun? If all Finnish school children are depressed friendless, internet geeks why are incidents of school and youth violence lower than the UK?

Crime in Finland - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Finland also has the highest homicide rate per capita in Western Europe, but these are mostly domestic incidents not using guns.

Finland like other Scandinavian countries has a large fan base for alternative music of all kinds.

Thus Finland sent Lordi a rock / heavy metal band noted for their elaborate monster-like costumes depicted during live shows and in music videos to Eurovision. They won the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest with a record 292 points, giving Finland its first ever victory. The video had zombies in a high school... I am surprised the media haven't pointed this out as a reason for the killing. Perhaps Lordi inspired the two recent crimes they faced in their US tour?

LORDI Manager, Bodyguard Shot At Following Louisville Concert - Oct. 30, 2007

Certainly Pekka-Eric Auvinen liked industrial and metal music, he also liked violent movies, video games and read Plato, Nietzsche, and existentialist philosophers. None of these things made him a sick killer, millions of other people have the same interests without killing anyone. Why do the media want to seemingly justify his ridiculous manifesto by acting as if they are in fact as stupid as he liked to claim they were?

Andrew Gosden 14 year old metal fan still missing

Please repost:

Andrew Gosden, 14, disappeared seven weeks ago after withdrawing £200 from his bank account. A high achiever at school, who likes metal style clothing, he is thought to have been in London without a mobile phone and has had no contact with friends or family. Andrew's parents have travelled to London each weekend to distribute posters of him.
Andrew is 5ft 4ins tall, of slim build with collar length, light brown hair and brown eyes. It is thought Andrew will be wearing black jeans, a black T-shirt and black trainers. Andrew may be carrying with him a black canvas satchel with patches of rock/metal bands on it. He likes Evanescence, Slipknot, Iron Maiden, Marilyn Manson etc.



He was last seen in London at Kings Cross after getting off a train from Doncaster.

See full details with photo here with youtube footage link and facebook link :

Andrew Gosden

"There have been reported sightings of him in London — at a Pizza Hut in Oxford Street, in a park in Streatham, leaving a local train at Waterloo — and farther afield, from South Wales to Birkenhead. " Times article:
A perfect son, a model family – so what made him run away?

Andrew was bullied at school according to comments at the Kerrang site.

Hiyer

I know andrew.
He goes to my school and is in all my classes
Its true wot people are saying-he did get singled out a lot and only had a couple of friends!

People bullied him- they wonder why he ran away.

I really wish he comes home soon

And for u lot that live near london-
please keep ur eyes open!

Thnx!
=)

Bex

Xxx

Asa Coon video released

Asa Coon, the troubled teen shooter was a "goth" dressed in entirely in black.

Now video has been released of Coon during the shootings. Yet the stories do not mention the "goth" angle any more. Could it be because the video show Coon in a WHITE hoodie entering the building? Is that it? Pretty shallow if so.. but then Coon's actions had nothing to do with his clothing as previous posts have shown.

Caught On Tape: Gunman Stalks School Hallways
NBC 10.com, PA - 26 Oct 2007
Asa Coon, 14, wearing a white hooded sweatshirt, walked upstairs to the third floor of successtech Academy on Oct. 10, police said. ...

Security footage shows Asa Coon stalking, firing at successtech ...
The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com, OH - 26 Oct 2007
He looks like any other high school student - except for the guns 14-year-old Asa Coon holds in each hand. Coon's rampage was captured in eerie, ...

The previous coverage often focused on Coon's goth clothes a small selection here:

Student opens fire at high school
Concord Monitor, NH - 10 Oct 2007
the student, said Coon was a "gothic" who usually wore a trench coat, black boots and a dog collar

Suspended 14-year-old shoots 4, then kills himself at school
New York Daily News, NY - 11 Oct 2007
Coon, a "Goth" who decked himself out in black nail polish, a trench coat and Marilyn Manson T-shirts, and who claimed to worship the Devil,

Questions Arise After High School Shooting In Cleveland
WCAV, VA - 11 Oct 2007
"He dressed in black, a trench coat, a chain" said one student. The school district is scrambling for answers, among them, whether the principal turned a ...

Teenage gunman wounds four in school shooting
The Mercury, Australia - 10 Oct 2007
Students said the 14-year-old gunman always wore a trench coat to school, was a loner and had talked about worshipping the devil.

Coon abandons the white when he starts shooting wearing black with a Manson t-shirt but there is no sign of the trenchcoat often mentioned in the earlier reports. Why the emphasis on the trench coat? Well that links Coon with Columbine of course.

It is certainly refreshing to see the metal/"goth" angle of the killings seems to have mostly played itself out in the initial burst of coverage.

Shelbyville Times-Gazette: One sub-genre is a very real threat.

There has not been as much media panic on the Asa Coon case compared to earlier cases like Columbine. I suppose with the sheer number of school shootings recently (see list) it has been difficult to hold onto the "goth" killer sterotype but some manage it:

Posted today: Shelbyville Times-Gazette: Story : Column by David Melson:

I ran across a 1958 newspaper story last week in which teenagers surveyed thought rock music would last until at least 1963. I'd imagine some of those teens are still rockin' today.

A small minority thought rock music would be a menace to society and were concerned, even then, with lyrics. One girl said she listened to lyrics before buying because she didn't want obscenity in her home. Ah, the innocence of the 1950s.

She's in her mid-60s today if still alive. Wonder what she thought about the teen in Cleveland who went on a shooting rampage in his high school a few weeks ago? The boy, who was into Goth and dressed in all-black, had told friends he was a Marilyn Manson follower and didn't believe in God.

Maybe that "small minority" mentioned were more insightful than anyone realized.

I don't think rock overall hurts at all, but one sub-genre is a very real threat. Gothic/death/doom metal has been cited as an interest of too many of those involved in school shootings. These groups have lead "singers" who yell, not sing, in guttural bellows and, if they can even be understood, are muttering anti-Christian thoughts. Check out some of their lyrics online and be ready for a shock.

Rock's always been about rebellion. But this goes too far. I'm normally not into censorship, and I realize freedom of anyone to post anything on the Internet would prevent any real stoppage of death metal. But record companies, at least, should reconsider what they're releasing.

Oddly another column in a Candanian paper disagrees: The Republic of East Vancouver - Your completely biased news source since 2000:

"To see teenagers in goth, punk or grunge get-ups trudging up the street is to see another response that is, in fact, exactly the same response: all we have left, apparently, is reprise of the past, the only difference being one response reaches a bit further back than the other. Predictably, the goth, punk and grunge types, appearing to be so angry at the world, are usually among the most polite, thoughtful and caring young people you can meet. They’re all Sid neo-Vicious the same way the politically active Christian fundamentalists are all neo-conservative. "

"Goth-style makeup" causes school problem

A few days after an article argued for greater tolerance of subcultures in Maine this hits the Bangor Daily News.

Students sent home from school for wearing Goth-style makeup: "Johanna Stacey, 14, Robert Scribner, 16, and Erik Jordan, 16, said they were not violating the school’s dress code which does not specifically address makeup. But Principal Jim Miller said the makeup was inappropriate and the students 'made a choice to leave' when they refused to wash it off. 'Students need to understand that this is not the mall; this is not a dance; this is not a concert. This is school. Their attire needs to be appropriate,' he said. Stacey had drawn a spider’s web under one eye and a black curl under another; Scribner and Jordan had black lines under their eyes. The students described themselves as 'Goth punk,' saying the style includes black clothing, long black coats, face makeup, dark or colored hair, and piercings. Alicia Stacey, Johanna’s mother, questioned why the three students were sent home for wearing makeup when other students wear 'pretty much what they want to wear. What damage can makeup do?'"

It was followed up by this article:
School standards shouldn't have to tolerate Goth makeup

Schools do have a right to control what students wear but it must be fair and equal and not signal out particular groups. The makeup these kids wore was minimal. The school should either ban all makeup or none. It seems odd that a preppy student could wear as much makeup as they like but as soon as you use a little black makeup it is stamped on. I wonder if those involved were inspired by what happened in Florida see earlier post: School dress Code

Marilyn Manson not to blame for violence

Interesting article covering Asa Coon and Manson.

Marilyn Manson not to blame for violence
The Orion, CA -16 Oct 2007

After Columbine, Sen. Joe Lieberman said the problem was music.

Lieberman said violent lyrics from artists such as Marilyn Manson are "helping to create a culture of violence that is increasingly enveloping our children, desensitizing them to consequences and ultimately cheapening the value of human life."

According to one study, music doesn't just affect children. It affects college students, too.

In a series of five experiments involving more than 500 college students, researchers from Iowa State University and the Texas Department of Human Services examined the effects of seven violent songs by seven artists and eight nonviolent songs by seven artists.

The result: students who listened to violent songs were left feeling more aggressive and hostile without provocation or threat. The study's lead researcher said these aggressive thoughts and feelings have implications for real violence.

But, again, it's all up for interpretation.

Paul Friedlander, director of the music industry program at Chico State, said there is no substantial evidence that suggests music has anything to do with violent acts.

If anything, more research says otherwise, he said.

"Research has clearly indicated that there is no correlation to listening to a song and being impelled to do something," Friedlander said. "Otherwise, every time you'd listen to NWA you'd shoot a person; or (with) Doris Day, you'd go out on a field and dance in a field of daisies."

Friedlander has a point, but many suggest that a few people will act violently after listening to violent music. And some will argue that one case is enough.

The Cleveland student was described as a "goth." He had black painted nails and wore all black clothes, including a Manson T-shirt. Manson was the boy's idol, according to several reports. So naturally, just like after Columbine, Manson was targeted. Maybe not directly, but his name was mentioned.

People still blame Manson and other artists for many pointless acts of violence.

Is that fair?

Friedlander, who is also a musician, said the answer is no.

Because if that were the case, "Why not blame Elvis for the sexual revolution of the '60s?" he said. People use music simply to help create their identities, Friedlander said. And that may include how one looks.

"If I'm a certain way, I'm going to listen to a certain kind of music," he said. "If I were to listen to Britney Spears, I'd probably be a teenage girl."

The Manson fan was just a teenage boy. A teenage boy who listened to Manson because he made him feel OK for being an outcast, for being different, for being exactly who he was.

In no way did Manson's lyrics tell the boy to go on a shooting rampage. Other factors influenced the boy. What were they? Sadly, that question will never be answered. [This is not true see other articles on this case the boy had mental problems and was frequently bullied.]

Here are some possibilities, though, something that nobody - except for Manson himself in an interview with Michael Moore - seems to talk about.

The problem isn't music. It's the influence of our country and government, Manson said.

According to the National Education Association's Health Information Network at www.neahin.org, American children are 16 times more likely to be murdered with a gun, 11 times more likely to commit suicide with a gun and nine times more likely to die from a firearm accident than children in 25 other industrialized countries combined.

That's appalling.

This stat's no better: In 2005, firearms killed zero children in Japan, 19 in Great Britain, 57 in Germany, 109 in France, 153 in Canada and 5,285 in the United States, according to the site.