Were you aware there are now different classifications for teen angst? Well hold onto your seats people, you're in for quite an education! This past weekend we were having a few drinks with friends at their house before heading out to Mike's company Christmas party. Our friends have a 15 year old daughter, who is really a nice, grounded kid. And who will after that night forever be on my speed dial. Somehow we were discussing how one of our 11 yr old daughter's friends came to hang out with her one time wearing a black, leather dog collar with silver spikes on it, around her neck! And her mother just laughed it off..."kids, ya know!". I was horrified. When we told our friends about this, she said, "Oh, she's a "scene" kid"...."Scene kid?"...she says, "ya know, Emo kids, Goth kids, Scene kids"....my stomach started to turn, what world was I sitting in? I wasn't understanding anything....English, PLEASE?! She asked her daughter to come out and explain it to Mike and I. I was really stressed out now b/c there is this whole other world which is apparently operating side by side with ours, but in a completely different realm, and I didn't even want to think about the possibility that our daughter might already be aware of these things....not that I even knew what these things were yet, but I knew I didn't want her to know about them...ever. So their daughter explained that there are Goth kids - I am aware there are kids that dress all in black and listed to Goth music. She said Goth kids hate everyone, Emo kids hate themselves and Scene kids....I don't think I got a clear understanding what Scene kids are b/c I am drawing a blank. Emo (short for emotional) kids are kids that cut themselves, dye their hair black, wear very heavy black eye liner and they cut their hair so it is long, diagonally over one eye. I was listening to all she was saying, just taking it all in.
The next day I couldn't stop thinking about it. I tried to sound like I knew what I was talking about and asked my daughter, "Are there any Emo kids in your class?" and without missing a beat my 6th grader told me there was one girl, the one she had previously told me smoked. Inside I was screaming, "our baby already knows about this ugly world?" OK, so I googled some stuff and I'm not saying I have done research, but I've checked out some stuff on Scene and Emo kids. There is conflicting information on Emo and Scene. Some say they are one in the same, others say Emo is actually a kind of music and Scene is the style of the kids who follow Emo music. Others say Emo is definitely a lifestyle and most of them concur that these kids hate themselves and their life. OK, back up the bus a minute. Does this sound familiar? I know when I was a teenager I went through a period when I hated myself and my life and dragged my sorry ass around all mopey and shit. Until my friends kicked me in the ass for my own good. So basically what's happening is we have teenagers going through normal teen angst times in their lives and instead of saying "oh wow, they're really screwed up", now we have classified them into different categories. Granted I never heard of anyone cutting themselves when I was growing up - I think that's something someone thought of to see if they could out do all the outcasts who'd gone before them - but this is taking typical teen down in the dumps to a whole new level. They have created a lifestyle out of it! I actually watched a You Tube video showing how to get Emo hair - it had a girl who had long hair in the front, especially over one side, and really short hair in the back and she shows you how she sprays her hair so it sticks straight up and out all over.....go ahead, Google "Emo kids" and have fun!
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