There are two movements among kids and teens today that you may or may not know about: the Scene Movement and Emo movement. In this article, we will discuss the differences between Scene kids and Emo kids.
When my friend Janet visited me the other day, she lamented that her beautiful, young daughter Jenny had started dressing strange and acting a little bit different. Up to this point, Jenny had been the all-American girl, dressing normal but stylish and acting in a way that her mother could be proud.
Then, within the last month, she had started doing her hair different with all sort of colors in it and a style that certainly defied convention and which Janet could only describe as "weird looking".
Janet and her daughter Jenny got into an argument over this new look. Janet asked her daughter what happened to the child that she knew and loved and wondered aloud to Jenny why she was doing this.
Jenny responded to her mom, "Well, at least I am not Emo, mom. This is the scene style and I love it!"
This introduced a whole new vocabulary to my friend Janet. She had no idea what a "scene" child was or what an "Emo" child was and asked me what these two movements were and if she should be thankful that her child was not an Emo child.
To understand each genre, we can first look at the actual names of these kids and teens: Scene and Emo. In exploring these definitions, we find out the true difference between the children.
Emo kids preceded Scene kids and the name is a derivation of the word emotional. Emo kids are darker and tend to be much more antisocial than their Scene counterparts. Though not to be confused with Goth, Emo kids are much more Goth-like than scene kids. They wear darker colors and have a darker attitude than Scene kids.
You have all heard the expression that someone wants to "be part of the scene". When we contrast these two types of kids, we realize that Scene teens and kids are not dark and mysterious. In fact, as we see in their dress, they are extremely colorful and tend to enjoy life, albeit an off-beat type of colorful enjoyment. So, though they may not listen to the top ten songs or covet the latest teen gift ideas , these kids are not somber and depressed. Quite the contrary, they constantly try to find things to enjoy.
So, should my friend Janet be worried that she has a child who has embraced this movement?
Absolutely not.
Your children will always go through a period in which they explore different facets of their personality and the youth culture. The most important thing is that you always maintain an open dialogue with your kids and that you do not project your desires onto them.
