You may or may not know what an “emo” is. I do. Emo is short for emotional, and emos are a fairly new type of subculture in the society of American youth.
These are the kids who replaced goths in the pyramid of hopeless self-pity and absolute despondence and helpnessness that we are creating for our future generations of leaders. Emos are completely unable to deal with reality, because they live in a fantasy world that is emotionally unhealthy and, not surprisingly, devoid of real logic. The world of an emo is a dark one filled with tears and no real direction unless you count the downward spiral into death as a direction.
But where do emos come from? That’s an easy answer. Public schools.
When your kid gets in trouble for even thinking about any type of self-assertion, the politics of the emo world are born. Think about it. Many public schools today will punish you for drawing a picture of any type of weapon. Ask your kid to write a diatribe about a society that values self-defense. Then tell your kid to create a cover page with the title, “Why I Have the Right to Defend Myself by Any Means” and get him to put some clip art of a pistol on the cover.
Tell the kid to take it to school and put it on his desk in every class without saying anything. No matter how good the diatribe is, no matter how valid the logic of the essay, your kid will be in trouble of some sort by the end of the school day. Perhaps a suspension. Perhaps the law will be called. Your child will be labeled. You’ll be lucky if your kid is allowed to continue attending the school.
From Wikipedia, “When referring to a person’s personality and attitude, most definitions of emo hold that an emo person is emotionally candid, sensitive, shy, introverted, glum, and quiet.[7] Depressed and broken-hearted are sometimes used to describe the emo personality. Emo music and poetry contain multiple references to unrequited love, emotional and relationship problems. Being melodramatic or overly emotional is also often associated with being emo.[7] ”
Is it any wonder children go emo? They cannot assert themselves as individuals, at least not in any way that approaches aggressiveness. That is patently unhealthy. We humans are sometimes naturally aggressive. We need constructive outlets for that aggression. We need to be able to roar. We need to be able to piss and mark our territory.
Zero tolerance and the politics of subservience to the state are working hard to ensure that no child will be left behind in the battle to sap our wills and destroy our sense of individualism. And that is why the next time you are at a mall you will probably see an emo or fifteen sulking about moodily. I blame public education camps.