The eighties much like the sixties and seventies posed many varied youth subcultures as a result of many transitions and changes in society. The youth were looked upon as misunderstood and with their "you will never understand" attitude they began to rely more on each other and their cultures. sXe (straight edge) came about in the early eighties when the punk scene was a great topic of controversy. As a subculture they held great angst against everyone and everything and were highlighted for their abusive tendencies. One man, Ian Mac Kay, decided that for himself on a personal level this was not working. He saw that there was nothing rebellious in drinking and taking drugs, as it was already mainstream and the only thing it would achieve was a means to an end. He told it like he saw it and sparked a counter culture to all other subcultures.
             The straight edge school, which sprang from Mac Kay, took his words seriously and a cult like "philosophy" was born. The aim of the game was to regain as much personal control over your own life by forfeiting drugs, alcohol and casual sex. They sought personal development away from dependant lifestyles, which were much aplenty in the punk scene of the eighties. Their motto became "don't drink/ don't smoke/ don't fuck". The group saw society as an evil force trying to control their lives, so after first bettering themselves they would then turn to better the world and so followed a strict enrolment in politics and environmental issues. The X in the acronym came from the days of all age gigs were minors would have an X stamped on their hand so they would be unable to receive alcohol, the straight edge scene adopted it for themselves. They saw that health was not a privilege and had a black and white view of why do something? if it makes you feel bad! 'How can you take control of your life if you are delirious or dead?'
             They saw it as an ev...