Acceptance and fitting into some crowd or group of peers remains at the forefront of a teenagers’ existence. Often portrayed in American movies like Mean Girls is the cool, gorgeous group of teenage girls and boys versus the geeky crowd, often stereotyped as nerdy, gothic, plain or gay. Adolescents and young people often gravitate to the so-called rebellious out-of-the-norm sub culture groups like the punks, goths, and emos. The popularity of vampires in popular culture, especially through the Twilight films, the television shows of The Vampire Diaries and the Trueblood series, and the proliferation of books and series in this genre, has fuelled a growing population of youth taking on the vamp sub-culture, which fits well with the goth like persona.
At a School in Boston last year according to the Boston Globe, an online newspaper, rumours of vampires at the school reached such a level that the headmaster was forced to issue this e-mail to all parents:
It has come to my attention that rumors involving ‘vampires’ began spreading through the building yesterday. I am concerned that the safety of certain students may be jeopardized as targets of rumors and speculation. Please alert any adult in the building if you feel that any student is being harassed or targeted.
Boston Latin School student Myles Friedman (left) said a police visit to the school earlier in the day had intensified the vampire rumor.
(Bill Greene/globe staff)
According to this news article a group of girls had spread rumors that a certain student was a vampire and had cut someone’s neck and sucked the blood.
This student just liked to dress in Goth-style and obviously the Mean Girls, were out to have some sport at her expense. A clear case of school-yard bullying, and an internal matter, but when the media (the Boston Globe) ran the story and proceeded to interview not only students and parents, but a psychologist as well, the context had gained momentum as almost a moral panic. The media in this case were not only creating angst about the vampire sub-culture but as it so often does linking bullying to teen depression and suicide. The credibility of not only the media is the issue here, but also the credibility of peers and other students in a school context. It is important for all students to learn how to question and critically view the information that surrounds them on a daily basis and not to take things at face value.
Reference
Woolhouse, M., & Cramer, M. (2009, March 27). Vampire rumors spur alert at Boston Latin – on bullying. Retrieved October 6 2010, from
Charnizon, M. (2010, October 5). What are they reading for fun Retrieved October 6 2010, from
I remember seeing so many articles like this in the last couple of years, ever since the whole Twilight-induced vampire phenomenon began. Stories that fans were cutting themselves, asking Rob Pattinson to suck their blood, etc. seemed to come up every week or so, and it really makes you wonder how much is actually true, and how much is pure media sensationalism and a grab for ratings and readers. Quite alot of it, I would assume.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you that in this case, the media have taken what appears to be an entirely internal matter and blown it all out of proportion. i don't believe that the headmaster really helped matters by sending that email either, and probably only served to heighten the media interest.
It is also interesting how quickly rumours can spread in a school, and I agree about how incredibly important it is for young people to have the skills to be able to view the massive amounts of information that constantly surround them, both critically and objectively - not only in the school environment, but in all aspects of their lives. Without these skills, functioning successfully in this information saturated environment would be impossible.