"Emo" Issues

One of my daughters has told me stories about an "emo" clique in her school. As I understand it, emo is short for "emotionally disturbed," and these kids—and the things that they say and do—are definitely disturbing me.

My daughter assures me that she does not want anything to do with this group, but my stepdaughter is showing signs of maybe being a part of the emo clique. She acts normal around the family, but her hairstyle has changed and I even talked to her teacher, who told me that she does hang out with some of the kids who are into the whole emo thing. Recently, I've caught her listening to emo music, which is disturbing—they sing about suicide and death and how much life sucks, etc. I nipped that in the bud. I didn't get angry at her, but I asked her not to download or tape that kind of music because I didn't appreciate it.

There are many other reasons I worry about her. She is my stepdaughter and she only started living with us when she was 7 years old. She did not come from a very nice situation. At that young age, she had already witnessed violence toward her mother and experienced it herself, so in fact, she really is emotionally disturbed. She has, however, been in a happy, nurturing home for the past six years and we are hoping that she is just trying to find herself and not really doing any of the self-destructive or harmful things that the kids in this group are known for.

The whole emo thing really worries me.