Wading in the land of "emo" students (shrug/scratch head, etc.)

[newblksusan]

I have a student who is a "cutter" (and rather proud of it, by the way. She wrote a great research paper about it and she's one of my very best students so it's hard for me to "argue" with her because she's so intelligent --- even about cutting herself. But I digress. . .) and she was trying to explain "emo" to me and how cutting is such a "emo

Comments

My student IS a hard one to figure out. . .

[newblksusan]

I was just looking over her paper as I read your post. She acknowledges that her "struggle with the blade" is a dangerous one that almost led to her suicide (for real). But she also argues that it's a coping mechanism that helps to deal with stressful or emotional situations. She ends up quoting someone named Alex Williams who wrote "Not Acting on the Urge to Cut Is A Serious Problem," and another freelance writer, Batya Swift Yasgur who "also argues that self-injury should be tolerated because fo the benefits that it can provide such as anti-suicidal behavior."

Seriously. But she also sources The Bible and lots of other stuff like "Purpose for the Pain" by Renee Yohe "To Write Love on her Arms" (a non profit group dedicated to helping cutters) and Marilee Strong's "A Bright Red Scream" so she has a wide range of source material and viewpoints. But I think you're right --- she does have control issues. Nonetheless, I confess that I found her paper to be just downright fascinating and educational. I've had students who were cutters before, but never one who went this far in trying to explain/explore what it's all about. . .