Teenage Fad

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. 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. 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. 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”.