Teens dispel myths about subculture

Teens dispel myths about subculture by THANA DHARMARAJAH GUELPH (Sep 18, 2006) A vampire skull is printed on Greg Swanson’s black T-shirt, his spiked, green hair stands 10 inches in the air and he has a collection of 22 knives and four guns. His fascination with machetes, hatchets and hunting knives is similar to another person’s interest in rocks or stamps, said the 19-year-old John F. Ross high school student. “Sharp steel has a dark beauty to it,” he said. The soft-spoken teenager was lured into the goth culture by its heavy music, dark thoughts and black attire. Kimveer Gill, the 25-year-old blamed in the shooting rampage at Montreal’s Dawson College, was apparently also immersed in the subculture. He posted a blog on the goth website vampirefreaks.com with statements such as “Anger and hatred simmers within me.” He had also put up photographs on the site, including one where the barrel of a gun points straight at the camera, and said he loved guns and hated people. But Swanson insisted his shotgun and three rifles are merely for hunting moose and other small game. “When you break me down, I’m a teddy bear and I wouldn’t hurt a fly,” he said. His friend, Sara Bryant, 19, who’s also drawn to the subculture, said the goth scene doesn’t always include depressed people seeking violent ends. “My friend wears a pink coat and if she shot up a school, would they say ‘Britney Spears makes people hurt each other’? I hate when people say I wear black (so) I’m a murderer.” Bryant stood outside the John F. Ross auditorium yesterday in her black Doc Martens, wearing grey plaid capris, a studded belt and a black sweater. Her bleached blond hair is cut short and she has a piercing below her lip. Her attire makes her comfortable, she said, and people shouldn’t blame Gill’s actions on the goth culture. “This is a sick person that was unstable,” Bryant said. “They would have caused the same amount of pain and damage if he was wearing Ralph Lauren.” Delaney Ward, 14, carries an autobiography of Marilyn Manson in her schoolbag, has the rock musician’s posters plastered all over her room and is been drawn to black attire and bracelets with skulls and bones. But thoughts of death and killing haven’t entered her mind. Sitting outside Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute, her 14-year-old friend Kim Bach said the gothic culture is very diverse, including people who have dark thoughts and others who are slightly more optimistic. Ward added that the Columbine High School shooters in Colorado were also linked to the goth-rock culture, but both crimes involved people who had deeper issues. Michael Tubbs, guidance counsellor at John F. Ross, said he’s dealt with some bright, intelligent kids who considered themselves goth. “They’re pigeonholed kids because they dress differently,” he said. “Just because one kid dressed up in (similar clothing) and shot people doesn’t mean (other) kids should be painted with the same brush.” tdharmarajah@guelphmercury.com

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