Emos are an actual topic in today's Armenia. This youth subculture has recently become a matter of much attention for the Police. The police visit schools, check pupils' clothes and contents of their cell-phones, carry out preventive measures; the youth wing of the Special police squad veterans unit (RA head of police Alik Sargsyan is the Honorary Chairman of the unit) held a march against emos.

Sargsyan himself  believes, that "we must fight not only against emos, but generally against sectant movements because they do serious moral damage to our nation".  

How dangerous and harmful emos are especially in our country, hra.am decided to find out from psychologist Vladimir Mikaelyan.

- Mr. Mikaelyan, the RA head of police thinks that emos can infringe our gene pool. What is your opinion about it?   

 - Emo movement is a social, emotional need. Every need has to be expressed. The thing is that it has to be expressed in a socially not dangerous form. And the emos' need for maximum emotional expression, which is absolutely normal in adolescence, can't be suppressed and repressed. One simply has to look at it from a psychological viewpoint - not to punish but understand and try to make it socially more acceptable. Gene pool is infringed not by emo kids but by homosexuals, let them fight against them. Emos can't infringe gene pool, it is simply impossible, even if they want. How can a teenager infringe gene pool by expressing his/her emotions? It is like saying that you have fallen in love with someone, you have feelings and you infringe gene pool. By the way, emos' emotions are basically focused on the fight against violence, lies and for equal rights for people. What is wrong here? Let's take the ideology and try to understand it. What are we fighting against? Against people who fight against violence, in their own way, by emotions, by their music...

- One of the psychologists believes that emo subculture presents certain danger and "we have to fight against the reasons that bring the youth to some subculture." Do you agree with it?

- Indeed, too much has changed in our thinking, roles have changed: if the psychologist has to fight and the policeman has to rear, I don't understand how we can come to something. The psychologist is to understand, psychology is the art of understanding a man. One of the commandments of psychological profession is "You shall not judge". I don't think either that the movement has to be prosecuted and punished. We live in a democratic country where every person has freedom. Emo movement is the freedom of expression of emotions. We have a right to manifest our emotions; we are free to do that. If some subculture does not bring with itself social or mental danger, that subculture is not dangerous. Emos bring neither social, nor physical or mental danger. It is a subculture of manifestation of emotions. We simply so much exaggerate this small question, ascribe  so much to it that they involuntarily start to believe that emos must have destructive behaviour, commit suicide etc. There are many subcultures we do not fight against. Why don't we fight against sects, against Jehovah's Witnesses? Why do we legalize Jehovah's movement which in fact brings spiritual, mental and physical danger because there are more cases of suicidal behavior among them? Why do we register the same very sects? Because our Constitution obliges to do that.  Where is it written that the Constitution obliges to fight against emos or other subcultures? Why have we fixed on teenagers? Because they are young, they don't understand their emotions and can't protect themselves. Why are we so actively fighting against teenagers who have a need to be understood, who live with emotions and think with emotions. We have to understand that by fighting and punishing we will aggravate the situation.

- In your opinion, what should the police change in their mode of action?

- If emos constituted terrorist danger, the police had to do it, but what danger do they represent even by trying to imitate something that is different from us? In fact, Armenian emos aren't even aware of the emo ideology. They merely follow the external side imitating the color of hair or clothes. If we inspire them with the idea that emos sooner or later end up in suicide, they will involuntarily start to think that way and involuntarily manifest such behaviour, i.e. we ourselves create social danger for us.  

Emo movement is a subculture of manifestation of emotions. It comes with certain age, it is a need connected with the development. So, come on, let's fight against our needs. We have learned very well to justify our mistakes, but we can't learn not to make these mistakes...   

Interview by Anna Barseghyan

Source - www.hra.am