In reply to mike123:
It's always been like this. I remember being annoyed about the other kids doing it when I was at school ( obviously I was never one of the in-crowd). But even as a kid I thought it was pathetic.
It's genuinely sad that too many young people get seduced by the "glamour" of this lifestyle and end up living it for real. I knew a couple from school who went down that road.
I heard a good one from my nephew the other day though - NPC. Non Player Character. It's a background character from a videogame, who doesn't do anything. Used as a derogatory term for someone who is on the fringes and no one notices.