First and foremost, let me extend my sincerest condolences to the Bond family for their tragic loss.  I am the parent of a teenager as well, and I can't even begin to comprehend the pain that the family is in right now.  There is nothing on the planet worse than the loss of a beautiful child.

That being said, let it be known that The Daily Mail clearly has issues with today's music, and My Chemical Romance in particular, as this is the third article of it's kind within a year's time (at the height of MCR's success, "coincidentally") in which the publication has launched an all-out attack on this band - attempting to terrify parents into banning their music from their children's lives.

What the Daily Mail is doing is no different than what Tipor Gore did in the 80's - demonizing innocent musicians for the rash actions of unstable teenagers.  The reality is that no child self-harms, or hangs themselves from bedposts, if they are "fine."  Please see for yourself:  http://www.helpguide.org/mental/self_injury.htm

There is no such thing as a "suicide cult" - I have yet to encounter a band who falls into this category, and I remember Venom!  This being said, the band accused of being the cult leader has been very outspoken against suicide and self-harm; advising depressed audience members to seek help if they are feeling suicidal, even going so far as to call out the telephone number for the Suicide Hotline from the stage.  Depressed children seek solace in MCR's lyrics, which are uplifting, but children such as Hannah are too far gone to be saved by mere words; music cannot cure mental illness.  Gerard would like a few words with the Mail himself:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWSFiC3FVoE

As a fellow journalist, I am of full suspicion that the Mail's quotes are either altered or the sources biased, because no fan of bands like MCR or Blink would EVER refer to themselves as "an emo" unless it were in jest.

As for the Mail's constant use of the term "emos" as if that were a species of animal, I say that the Mail is actually contributing to the ignorance that is behind the death of Sophie Lancaster, and to attacks such as this recent one  http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1725839,00.html in Mexico City (which Gerard Way spoke out against, by the way:  http://www2.kerrang.com/2008/04/gerard_way_hits_out_at_mexican.html

In my opinion, the Daily Mail deserves a boycott, and lo and behold, here comes one now:  http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=my+chemical+romance+protest+against+daily+mail&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

What happened?  Now look at what you've done:  300 "emo" kids forgot to wallow in depression and instead managed to organize themselves in protest of YOU!  How does that feel?

Ignorance in journalism is something that needs to be watchdogged, and I plan to spearhead that operation.

Sincerely,

Deborah J. Draisin