Vandalism

Vandalism. Senior Pranks that cause damage. Graffiti. Why is any of it necessary?

Last night, the mural that our students and Art teachers created in Town was vandalized. This happened along with the vandalism of some of our local churches. Vandalism is a problem that I cannot get my head around. I understand that those who commit the act aren’t worried about the costs to repair, replace or clean the damage. But I don’t understand what they hope to gain?

What’s the vandalism about in the mind of the person committing it? Is it done out of anger? Boredom? Spite? Mischief? Jealousy? Hate?

From where I stand, vandalism feels very hurtful. Perhaps that’s the intention, to hurt others? But why then? We have students and teachers who gave freely of their own time to try to do something good for our Town, why would anyone want to hurt them? It’s so senseless. I try really hard to listen and understand and think about the other person’s point of view but in this case I truly cannot understand. It  makes me very sad. What is lacking in the people who deliberately destroy the property of others? What need does that act feed in them?

What’s the point?

On a similar topic, I’ve always hated senior pranks for the same reasons. Maybe they start in good fun, but I’ve seen students get carried away with them and do irreparable damage to their school and to themselves. And even when it doesn’t result in real damage–who do they think has to clean up the messes left behind? Some good hard working cleaner or custodian who doesn’t deserve that extra load in their work day, that’s who. For those of us who work in education and strive every day to make school a better place and to make sure every student feels valued and cared about—vandalism and senior pranks gone awry are just a big slap in the face.