Subculture clash among Mexico’s youth (3/3ページ)

The percentage of Mexican homes with computers doubled to 22.1 percent last year from 11.8 percent in 2001. The percentage of Mexican homes with cable or satellite television also nearly doubled to 24.7 percent from 13.5 percent during the same period. Mexico has the 12th-highest number of cell phones in use in the world: 57 million.

Even as families become more affluent, home life has gotten more difficult for many young people, said Roberto Bermudez, another sociologist from National Autonomous University. Mexico's divorce rate has risen steadily to 12.3 percent in 2006, from 7.4 percent in 2000. "These groups are a middle-class phenomenon, but at the same time, many of these young people come from disintegrating families," he said.

At the Chopo market, Ruben Arias, 19, who described himself as an "anarcho-punk," said Mexican youth would probably continue to subdivide as the country becomes more technologically advanced and globalized.

He said media coverage fueled the anti-emo furor, and he predicted it would eventually subside.

"I'm not anti-emo," he said, shaking his 18-inch-high Mohawk. "People should have the freedom to do their own thing."

(c) 2008, USA TODAY International. Distributed by Tribune Media Services International.