By Stephen Matenga

While freedom of association is a universal human right enshrined in almost all national constitutions, the latest anti-social emotionally charged teenagers christening themselves as Emo Kids need some deeper and sober thought as it poses seriuos consequences to humanity and social stability.

Emo is short for Emotional. This sub-culture evolved from earlier youth cultures such as the goths, the punks and the hard cores. Emos wear tight black jeans, long fringe bangs brushed on one side of the face, straight black dyed hair, tight t-shirts, studded belts, black canvas sneakers, unique studded belts, horn ringed glasses, celtic crosses and black lipstick.

These teenagers, usually around 16 years of age, have a worrying motivation to commit suicide. They are driven into this underground association through slogans and romantically catchy phrases such as, :"you will live the life that you have always wanted to live". Their hatred for their parents, life and society is potrayed in their philosophy on the Youtube video titled How to become Emo where they openly declare that, "above all you should avoid happiness. Happiness is a cardinal sin in the Emo Culture".

A further perusal of most internet sites reveals that the majority of them have strongly negative emotional backgrounds such as child abuse at tender age, loss of parents, school drop out, seperation from boy or girlfriend, drug and alcohol abuse and the endless catalogue of depresion.

They have paramount anger which they express through openly exhibiting their emotions in deep poetry, hard core music, cutting-off flesh from their bodies and commiting suicide, all this in the name of celebrating self harm as a perceived relief from tormenting emotions. They tell each other to show their inner dispair "by looking like you are too sad to eat", or " to wear any colour as long as it is black".

They first rang alarm bells in 2008 when US teenager Hannar Bond committed suicide after discussing the "glamour of hanging" online. She told her parents that self harm was an Emo Initiation ceremony.

A key component of the Emos is their unique music, ultra roaring, heavy bass, fast beat sounds driving a sense of urgency, sobbing and crying. The names of the bands are suggestive and inciting. They include My Chemical Romance, Bloody, Death, Dead and Sexy, Golden than death, The Hated among others mostly operating underground. An untitled emo peom from one of the sites read,

two shots of hate from a mouth as loud as a gun,
like an assasin ... who does it for fun.
two deafening blows in a war that has just begun,
life gone away...i'm done.
two red roses sitting on my coffin, the wind blows, leaving only one
the world i know disappears...like the setting sun."


An Emo song by the American band Adam And Andrew, has cult status on the internet, appearing on many personal websites. It is called Dear Diary and is both witty and alarming.The chorus goes: 'Stop my breathing and slit my throat, I must be an Emo. I don't jump around when I go to shows, I must be an Emo. Dye in my hair and polish on my toes, I must be an Emo. I play guitar and write suicide notes, I must be an Emo.'


The Emo kids started in Washington DC in the late 1980s before spreading to other parts of America and now Europe. In Germany they have also invented an extension of Emo music called Death Pop. Recently, a German group, Knives of the Archiles recently produced an album called Love equals death.

The androgynous nature of the emo culture is its appeal to young girls because it is sexually unthreatening since the boys dress and act like girls.

However, Emos have drawn a lot of criticism with the Russian government moving a bill to illegalise it. The rebellious Emo kids responded by demonstrations and labelled the government "a totalitarian state spunning stupidity". Early this year in the US, anti-Emo demonstrators attacked these teenagers calling them "a bunch of evil", "sexists", "socially withdrawn" and "bad teen influence". As is their nature, they were not bothered, they responded by issuing statements that to express one's inner emotions openly is a legal right.

The wondrous issue is that these teenagers are less equiped to manage stronger emotions thats why they go to the extent of commiting suicide. In that sense, notwithstanding freedom of choice, freedom of association, human rights and globalisation as well as the interconnectedness of people through the world wide web and other mass media systems, should society, parents and governments fold their arms as this subculture propagates like veld fire? Is this the society Americans will call The American Dream? Is this the legacy we want to leave for our children and our future generations. Should the world compromise principle on the altar of expediency by non action. If this is the new world order, the global village, who will protect culturally conservative societies, for instance in Africa?

This madness, with all due respect has to stop now and permanently. If we can not act decisively now, then when? if not us then who?