People get paid to study this stuff?

[day_star]

Hi. So. Okay. Several things.

FIRST. This might be old news to some of you BUT. I have got a graduate job with Deloitte! (Yes, that's a link right there. Click it

Comments

[shtinkey]

OH MY GOD. This is just a whole entire world of WTF. with a long fringe that falls over the right-hand side of the face. SURELY, NOT ON THE LEFT SIDE?!?!?! How the hell do people come up with this shit?

I have much more to comment on but I'm also running late, except to work.

OH MY GOD PEOPLE. How can adults not get this?

[day_star]

And isn't it wonderful how it dictates exactly which bands to listen to and which brands to buy? Dashboard Confessional is not emo! They were just completely talking to the wrong people here.

[shtinkey]

I've been thinking about this all night and I am REALLY bothered by the fact that they think that emo kids are the same as kids with emotional problems. Kids committing suicide aren't just emo, they can be anybody! They might not even be kids! Some people who fit into the whole "emo subculture" whatever aren't even suicidal

[day_star]

Oh Pam, congratulations! You're the most emo person I know! Which way does your hair part? Left or right?

But that's exactly my problem - everything is being 'defined' and turning into trends! It's all becoming so consumerist and this just covers up the real emotional and social problem and it makes me so mad that people just can't see the plain truth right in front of them. Honestly, how can they not see it? This makes me want to listen to ANGRY music. And by their definition this makes me emo too. Good grief, even the thought of being emo makes me emo (on a materialistic level)...

[day_star]

I'm honestly surprised they didn't lay into MySpace more, considering how it's overflowing with this stuff. But then again, this is just the news from Sydney.

One article I did read that was decent addressed the bullying at school but then they related the bullying to the girl being emo and then went into the culture, just like the other articles. Ugh. They started with an interesting thing and then ruined it.

[strawberry_star]

HAHAHA media always does this. No matter what it's called, teens go through phases. In my pre-teen/early teen days it was grunge and it was the exact same thing with a different fashion (although some are still the same), different music..ect. Then there's always been goth since the 80's and punk (although more angry than sad) since the 70's. It's just teenage rebellion, a label so that they can fit in. But that's not interesting to the media. Instead they act like it's some big phenomenon every time a "new" sub-culture catches their eye.

There's always some that are just being trendy to fit in, but then there's others that really do have a mental illness and that's when parents need to look beyond "oh it's just teenage angst" and get their kid some help. Believe me, I know. My mom tried to tell me when I was 15 that I'd grow out of it and here I am 10 years later and taking medications for bipolar.

[day_star]

Exactly. My problem with the media on this case is that a lot of these kids are just bored and craving attention and this media spotlight is just feeding them, and making them think it's okay to sit around in the dark and cut yourself because of something trivial. Or what's more, come poor confused kid who could really do with some help could read about being emo and decide that it's for them and gah... It's just a vicious circle in itself.

And I guess it's really up to the judgment of parents when they're faced with that issue, but when they get it wrong and the kid has to suffer...it's just so frustrating, isn't it?

[strawberry_star]

Exactly. When I was 13, I worshiped Kurt Cobain, who had just killed himself a year before. Well anyways, I used to think about suicide everyday obsessing over it and listening to Nirvana. I'd then adopt the clothing style, and all my friends were "stoner" types all through high school. But I thought I was not fitting in, but really I was fitting into that whole kind type of grunge/post-grunge angst. It's kind of embarrassing to think about now, but back then I didn't know how else to deal with how I was feeling. All it did was make it worse because every time I was just making myself feel worse kind of on purpose cause I figured that was the only way I could validate that my feelings were real

[day_star]

When I was 13, I was a full on geek. Dorky glasses, hanging out in computer labs - good times, but still, I'm glad I grew out of it. And I would probably have suffered for it if it wasn't for the fact that I went to an awesome school and had great people around me.

I think it's worse now also because the media makes it so clear cut. You have to listen to this music, you have to wear these clothes, you have to cut your hair like this otherwise god forbid, you're not one of us. And the poor kid who desperate wants to fit in will do all this. Having restrictions like this is like a massive step backwards into some kind of homogenous society that I thought was exactly what we were trying to move away from and encourage against. And it just makes me so angry that people like us can see the problem but the policy makers and the 'experts' can't.

[similarly]

property rights - THE most important common law rights there are. the basis for society as we know it.

[day_star]

Lol, I KNEW you were going to say something like that =)

[similarly]

Hee, I'm just that predictable eh.

[similarly]

Well, we all know that on Sundays, the SMH becomes another trashy paper... no longer holding it's broadsheet glory.

[day_star]

At least they haven't resorted to front page spreads about a cat being rescued from a tree. But while I don't mind this issue being in the SMH, I really don't think the level of reporting is of the usual standard. I mean seriously, a whole report based on what some 14 and 15 year old kid said? I bet they just picked these kids up from Hyde Park too.

[similarly]

THAT'S WHAT THEY DO IN CANBERRA BECAUSE THERE IS NO NEWS. PAGE THREE ARTICLE "GRANDMOTHER LOSES CAT" I KID YOU NOT.

AND YES. CAPS IS ENTIRELY NECESSARY.