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Some of my Hispanic students go emo, and they are almost always the smarter ones who enjoy reading, and don't get into hip-hop and thug culture.

I think the adoption of some of these styles is a protective device for kids in a rough environment. I always thought the fact that an unusually large number of the smarter boys in rough black areas seemed to flaunt being gay or even cross-dressing was simply because that let them off the hook and nobody wanted them to join a gang. They could just go home and do their nails and read a book and the homies would call them a few nasty names and then forget about them. But it gave them a collective identity.

The same is probably true with the Hispanic kids or the Iraqi kids, adopting a sort of outsider identity that gives them a little group cohesion and also protects them from peer pressure simply because they are considered wierd and nobody wants them around.

That said, you can get away with it if the "only" thing you have to worry about are gangs. But if you live in a tyranny, it's actually much more difficult, because you'll attract the attention of the State, in this case, the Islamic Morality Police.

If this report is true, remind me again of exactly why we went into Iraq and gave up the lives of thousands of our young people? To make the world safe for Islamic theocracy?

...adopting a sort of outsider identity that gives them a little group cohesion and also protects them from peer pressure simply because they are considered wierd and nobody wants them around.

Wow... I never thought of that, but it makes perfect sense. I don't know why it didn't occur to me, I remember reading theories about how anorexia nervosa was also (possibly) a coping strategy for young women who didn't want to be sexualized. (Not a GOOD coping strategy, mind you, but... it did make sense.)

I don't know about Iraq, but in the inner city of Los Angeles, it's a pressure cooker. These kids watch each other like hawks, and they pounce on any deviation from their sub-culture. Even doing too well in school can make you a target.

I see a lot of crossover between the emo, rocker, and skateboarder crowds in the student body. They are usually pretty bright and friendly, but they just don't want to do the gangster, novella, quinceanera thing. It's a trip to see a little Hispanic kid with blue hair in his eyes and a Nirvana shirt on, toting his skateboard around. Actually, it's cute until they start piercing their faces.