Beware the sinister cult of emo Print
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Written by TOM RAWSTORNE   
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Beware the sinister cult of emo
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Hannah was a happy 13-year-old until she became an 'emo' - part of a sinister teenage craze that romanticises death. Three months later she hanged herself. Here, her devastated mother tells other parents: No child is safe

 

 

On the night before she died, she came into their room, kissed her father Raymond on the cheek and cheerfully told him: "I love you, Dad."

The following day Hannah's mother Heather went to check on her daughter and found her hanging by a tie from the top rail of her bunk bed.

From Fresh-faced to suicidal: Hannah Bond pre ‘emo’, left, and weeks before her death

She screamed for her husband to come, but try as he might it was too late: there was simply nothing that he could do to save Hannah's life.

In the unending bleakness of the weeks that have followed, the couple have fought to make sense of what happened.

Why on earth did their daughter — a popular, intelligent and attractive girl — do such a thing?

They could find only one clue: Hannah was what is known as an "emo".

Some describe it as a cult or a sect, but in reality the term — derived from the word "emotional" — encapsulates a trend that is becoming hugely popular among Britain's schoolchildren.

A trans-Atlantic import, its followers dress in black, favouring tight jeans, T-shirts, studded belts and sneakers or skater shoes.

Hair is all-important: often dyed black and straightened, it is worn in a long fringe brushed to one side of the face.

Music also plays a critical role.

Emos like guitar-based rock with emotional lyrics.

American bands such as My Chemical Romance, Good Charlotte and Blink 182 are particular favourites.

No doubt many adults would ask: "So what?"

On the surface, it all sounds typically teenage — angst-ridden, over-dramatic and tribal.



 
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