Kim Hone-McMahan, writer for the Akron Beacon journal, has written an interesting article on a new trend for teens; biting. It has been practiced by sub-cultures in big cities for many years, regardless of the risk of blood diseases, such as hepatitis. There is a fine line between fun/ fantasy, and being masochistic. Do teens know the difference?
The popularity of the “Twilight” series, both the books and movies, and television hits like HBO’s “True Blood” might be causing some kids to imitate the behavior of their favorite vampires, according to ABC News and other outlets. Teens are even using Internet sites like YouTube to post videos of their bites, usually involving the arm, face or neck.
Nneka Holder, an adolescent medicine specialist at Akron Children’s Hospital, warns that a human bite is not something to trivialize. “Human mouths are not much cleaner than a dog’s mouth,” said Holder, who added that bites that cause infection could land a child in the hospital.
Some people bite or give hickeys as a sign of possession, warning others to keep away from the victim. “Anything done like that to show ownership is not a healthy relationship,” said Joseph Salwan, a psychologist with the Akron Family Institute.
Teens’ attraction to vampire tales is nothing new. “Vampires lure us into our dark side, and for some of us, that is a thrilling literary adventure,” said 18-year-old Maddie Winer. “I think vampire movies . . . are popular because they are so exotic, especially in ‘Twilight’s’ case. You have unconventional vampires that don’t eat humans, but rather are ‘vegetarians’ that eat animal blood.”
Mentioning the ‘Twilight Saga Eclipse’ and the ‘True Blood’ series by HBO, the ‘CBS Early Show’ reported that fans may have taken the vampire premise a bit too far when it comes to this latest craze. Fans are showing affection to each other by biting and drawing blood.
This could cause a series of health problems, but more importantly, it is a fad that is caused by biting another person. These bite marks are seen on tweens, teens and even young adults all over visible body parts. The more bite marks, the more you are “loved”.
In Los Angeles, bite marks can be seen on kids who walk down the street. In the mall, the kids are proud of these marks, and show them off to anyone who asks.
Sources: freep.com, examiner.com
Images from iol.co.za
CBS video report on this trend, July 6, 2010.
A frightening phenomenon. I am saddened to read that young adults, teens and pre-teens are indulging in this kind of behavior. The fad is dangerous and fraught with risks. I hope the word gets out that biting can be hazardous to one’s health. Thanks, Lisa, for bringing this to our attention.
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Oh brother, this is very sad. It makes it hard to put stuff on TV because people are acting stupid. SOmethign like this happened with an anime called Death Note, and the same with Pokemon. I had a feeling this was gonna happen
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So not cool.
Maybe the stars of these hit vampire movies/TV shows can do a PSA or something to ask their impressionable fans not to engage in this fad or practice.
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Oh lord the shame. You posted that awful article from my local newspaper. I live in Stow, Ohio, and even used to work at Akron Children’s. I have a friend that is a cardiac nurse there now. It is nationally known, and anything having to do with children round here gets a quote from one of their specialists.
Anyway, the integrity and journalism over at the Beacon Journal is such a local joke they call it the Leaking Urinal. No joke. This is sensationalist journalism and nothing else. Wish you woulda posted just the CBS news article, or even the ABC news one that the ABJ article cites. The writer only did this story BECAUSE 2 OTHER NEWS OUTLETS DID FIRST and we have a big children’s hospital to get a quote from to write our own “story”……..and so there you go. I even saw a report about this “fad” on CNN the same week. Really, your kids having unprotected sex warrants a bigger article and more attention than this. We’ve got bigger problems in our neck of the woods than this.
For shame, Akron Beacon Journal. You’ve now polluted my True Blood fan site! Yuck.
Seriously, folks. Do not take this “report” seriously. I am not usually a media basher, but this is a perfect example of why you shouldn’t believe everything on the internet. Note how none of the Akron officials quoted actually say they saw anything like this in their own work with kids. They just talked to the reporter about the topic, and she picked what worked with the other quotes from the other stories to make it sound like this is a national problem. At the end, it mentions kids walking around in LA with bite marks. I think we all know that kids in LA don’t neccesarily represent kids across the US.
There. That’s the end of my rant.
D*&^ Beacon Journal making us Akron folks look bad to all you fans!
We’re not all stupid, I swear!
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Lisafemmeacadienne Reply:
August 24th, 2010 at 18:30
I added the quotes myself from the other stories; please see the sources listed at the bottom. This article is a compilation of four sources.
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rowan729 Reply:
August 24th, 2010 at 19:21
Yeah, I realized this was a compilation after reading the actual ABJ article online. It mostly talks about Twilight-but the quotes I referred to were from the Akron article from ACH officials, and I believe the author of the article-Hone-McMahan, not you-took them out of context to fit her theme. She does state, however, that the hospital mentioned HAS NOT REPORTED an increase in this fad or incidents of biting in teens. The only reason they went to the hospital for a quote on this is because they could, end of story. Not because it’s an actual problem, or even because these professionals have experience seeing/dealing with this phenomena, but because it makes a sexy story. Oh, and the teens they asked for opinions on this fad? They all agree it’s not right, stupid, etc. So that’s the story for you, folks. But the reporter had to write about something, so……
The Akron author even ends the article with Bon appetite. Cute.
Oh, and it was printed on a Sunday-coincidence? Of course not.
I still say yuck, and crappy journalism on the ABJ’s part.
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Sad. This is so wrong, in so many ways.
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That is worrisome. I have seen one news report about this strange practice but it seems to be something that should be addressed more thoroughly in the media. Maybe even a psa in theaters and on tv especially to audiences of vampire related films or shows.
Great report Lisa.
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I hope people don’t think this is something most teens do…
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