What is 'EMO?'

For anyone for whom this remains a question or mystery...take comfort that
defining EMO is something that kids who adhere to this subculture group ALSO
discuss, even argue with each other over.

The name: is broadly a shortening of "Emotional." As a label, it is not very useful - because
for a teen to join "the EMO's" is a tribal thing, not an academic or strictly socially
defined 'membership.' As it has ascended and become popular, it has interbred with other
more angular tribal groups - goths & punks.

One kid from the paper put it well:
"The concept of EMO means emotionally confused and emotionally challenged.
Some people say it's 'emotional,' but that's way off.
Everyone is emotional at some stage."
How right he is - this is more of a highly stylised movement, to which youths come and go
according to it's suiting their current experimental mood and felt needs.
Not every kid will be even interested in 'EMO' or in becoming one; in fact some
yioung blokes that I work with tease the "EMOs" and make fun of their 'whining.'

The focus upon them, and media/public panic, is probably due to the darker side
of their movements emotional discourse - it is common among them to share their
feelings of depression, hurt and alienation. The suicide of two Victorian girls -
Jodie Gater and Stephanie Gestier - has only fuelled the fires of panic; as both
of the girls subscribed in one way or another to an EMO lifestyle. The focus of
warnings to parents of teenagers, has been the limitation of their teens' access to
the world wide web, and in particular "MySpace" - the do-it-yourself website
service by which many kids send each other messages & express themselves in
a stylised 'online' way.

I'm inclined to say "don't panic" to people asking me about EMO and
whether parents & carers should be watching out for danger. I would say
'ALWAYS be supervising and watching' anyway. But NOT because kids
have discovered "MySpace" as a medium that is 'secret' from their parents.
Rather, it's loving and responsible for us to have a high level of
unobtrusive presence and supervision, surrounding our teens every day,
where possible. This is an 'authoritative boundary' which they need, particularly
because their emotional life really can go up and down. What frightens me is the
idea that kids in our homes or schools may have whittled right down their
'bank' of interested adults, to a thin line of peers. The subcultural ghetto takes on
a spiritual and communal air for them then, because adult alternatives which they are
MADE for are simply not present enough to shape them.

Kids are ALWAYS going to have secrets - it's basic to being a teenager and
healthily separating from dependency upon mum and/or dad.
I like this comment from Andrew Street - who edits "Drum Media," a popular
street music & culture mag:
"The secret life of a teenager may be the core of their joy as much as a key
to their misery. Black eyeliner need not discount the possibility of a silver lining."

So I'm not against "EMO", or most subcultures for that matter (Goths make me
nervous, but I'm dealing with it.) They are just the outward show that our teens
have always and will always use amongst themselves: A way of....
* Identifying with something
* Getting Support
* Searching for feedback on their own identity
Not to mention... the great hair styles, eye makeup and skinny-leg black jeans.
Hey, we all bought into one look or another as teenagers, didn't we?
(Personally, i had a crack at the long-hair-black-tshirt-angry-attitude clique of
'the metal heads,' in the late 1980's & early 90's.)

The news about kids and EMO isn't simply "aint it awful!"
(but media experts love to
say it is. That doesn't give a balanced look at both sides of a story, but does make you read their article first...)

Let this articulate little EMO 15 year-old give you a take-home thought:

" You see another side of being a teenager when you're EMO.
You see a side that most people don't see (in teenagers.)
That's also the hard part about being IN the EMO scene;
You'll see a harder side of life. "

Well, life IS difficult... I'm glad they're learning.

Al