[RichInOC]

That's really not the self-abuse I had in mind. That's messed up.

[voletti]

Dunno why but I get the creepy feeling that rampant, soulless, pointless, hopeless liberalism at these 'elite' univs has something to do with this self-abuse thingie....

[dighton]

New, eh?

They might have reconsidered the wording.

[Darksheare]

Hey, they can go blin.. oh, wait.. nevermind.

[xrp]

They just think they're Klingons.

[SamAdams76]

It gets worse. It is said that some college kids have taken to listening to bands such as Gorillaz and Modest Mouse.

Whatever happened to Van Halen and AC/DC?

[pabianice]

1 on 5. Right. Just as 1/3 of all returning veterans are "suffering from PTSD." What a pile of crap.

[Captainpaintball]

Why don't they just stand naked with hoods over their heads, or strip down to their underwear and form human pyramids? Or what about waterboarding each other? That's REAL abuse!!!

[lexington minuteman 1775]

I volunteer at a Christian rock non profit venue. When I heard statistics not too far from this I was shocked. I think a good deal of this can be laid at the feet of a society which lives by instant gratification, a decline in moral absolutes, and all the stuff that goes with the liberals social agenda.These young folks are in a great deal of pain, emotionally, and spiritually and I don't see it getting better in the near future.

[Disambiguator]

Separate research found more than 400 Web sites devoted to the subject, including many that glorify self-injury.

"MySlice.com"?

[Question_Assumptions]

I read an article about this in a science magazine (possibly Discover) in the 1980s. Of course people were judgemental enough to call this mentally disturbed behavior back then...

[dasboot]

Uh..i think you guys are looking too deeply for the obvious reasons...there are exactly two, IMHO:

One: Social identity: tatoos and piercings, orange hair and proud sexual perversity (and, getting there, branding) are passe. Cutting is the next step, to push the envelope.

Two: Sympathy junkies. A rational result of the victim industry. Normal? Nobody give a s**t. Screwed up: "we care more". The attention is toxic.

[nmh]

Must be all that phony "self esteem" come to a boiling point.

[Rodm]

There is nothing new under the sun.


27And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.

28And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.

29And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.

30And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down.

[The Brush]

I view piercing and tattoos as self mutilation. (Cutting oneself is mutilation, not just abuse) 2000 years ago Christ said we are in the end times and that things will get worse. Over the years things have gotten worse, then better than worse again... it seems a natural progression (like global warming)
Satan has a much better grip on kids these days. The more they have the more they feel they're missing.
When I was younger (in the 50's) our churches and Sunday Schools were full. Confirmation classes had 40 to 50 kids, today there are 3-5 kids being confirmed and the churches have trouble paying their utility bills.
The more we progress it seems the more we regress.
I am afraid for our Nation but I know that God is in charge. How long will it take until he redeems this world?

[The_Reader_David]

Here is a hypothesis: human beings actually need ascesis. Our society teaches the opposite--don't place serious demands on children or adolescents, everyone is entitled to 'do what you want (as long as you don't hurt, or offend, others)', 'self-esteem' (a vice according to St. John Cassian) must be protected.

So, the need for ascetic discipline bursts forth in bizarre (and actually demonic) ways.

[freekitty]

Says a lot about our nanny culture. Parents that aren't there, government that isn't either; but pretends to be.

[John Lenin]

I belive this is where the trend started.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Do they include things like fingernail biting? If so I could believe the numbers, if not then we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto

[Kokojmudd]

Typically American psycho-liberal trend. You can't turn on a teenage tv show without seeing this crap. I doubt there is any cutting going on in places like the Sudan, unless it is done by somebody else's machete.