As with any trend, clique or the like, certain unbalanced people will always pull the curve out of whack.

My personal experience and time as a gothie was a combination of typical teenage rebellion, a like for the music, and a desire to bond more closely with my friends who were of the same mind. I'm not gonna deny that there are 'freaks' (as we referred to them) who really believe they're a vampire, or 101 other stupid things that they believe. However, you can find this in ANY subculture. In my experience, I ran into one or two goths who I'd consider a danger to others or themselves. I've run into one or two punks during that phase who were truly self or otherwise destructive (I'm not counting gangs into that - that's stupidity independent of the subculture). I've even run into one or two folkies I'd consider dangerous - people who've taken the idea that singing about changing things isn't enough, and one must do so by any means necessary.

While I do appreciate that Goths, Punks, and the affiliated trade guilds are easy targets and the most visible tend not to be the best examples, I don't see the cause for concern that Sorcha does. I've never met a single person who has become 'dangerous' to anyone simply by listening to the music. Sometimes it can be a warning sign - it's hammered into a lot of kids that only "sick and disturbed people look like that, act like that, listen to that music". In that case, it's only natural that a teenager will adopt that style to show that they're distressed. But it's not the cause. I lost two friends in high school to suicide, one goth, one punk. The goth was being raped by her father - but the family wouldn't believe her, and blamed her friends. The punk had gotten hooked into drugs, turned punk, and eventually wound up getting into fistfights with his father before OD'ing intentionally.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the subculture is not a danger, is not 'evil', or any of the other things that popularly get said about it. If you're concerned that a child of yours or someone else's is being damaged by this, please PLEASE look more closely at the life beyond the music before condemning the entire ball o' wax. Was their behaviour a sudden and drastic change from previous behaviour? Are they flaunting the 'dangerous' angles, but not expressing any interest in the mundane angles? There are many signs, none of which start with "Is he/she a goth?"

Sorry... I'll return this soapbox for the nickel deposit now and get a soda...

M