GUILTY!! (Vandalism)

Member Name: Grimsbygal

Product:	Vandalism
Date:	25/10/01 (193 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: ???????????

Disadvantages: wastes money, creates eyesores

English Oxford Dictionary Definition: “Vandalism - willful or malicious destruction or damage to works of art or other property.”

When I was a teenager I got a marker pen with a group of friends and willfully wrote my name on a building. It might have been building in the middle of a field with a thousand other names scribbled on it but still it was not my property.

Does this make me a vandal?

It felt right at the time. We were bored and spent most of the afternoon reading what else other people had wrote. This was about seven years ago but still to this day you can still see my name, however faint it may be, it is still there.

Luckily my boredom ended there. I didn’t graduate in that subject and instead moved on to better things. Some of my so-called friends didn’t stop there. Some moved on to slides and swings, then on to bus shelters. These people didn’t care about what anyone else felt. They didn’t care about the children in the park and the bad language they were using, they just did it when they were bored.

Some people carry on vandalising for the rest of their lives. They find it enjoyable smashing a corner shop window or burning a shopping trolley. I cannot understand why people do this let alone enjoy it. I feel guilty about writing on a stupid wall so god knows what I would feel like vandalising bigger things.

I was brought up to respect other peoples property. My parents taught me to look after things that belonged to other people and not destroy them. I grew up to learn that when the council erected a new bus shelter or when a new phone box arrived to take care of it and be glad for having the opportunity to stay dry when waiting for a bus. In many places new bus shelters and phone boxes do not stand a chance. They might as well put a new born baby into the street and expect it to look after itself. Thankfully there are not many places in Grimsby like this. Fair
enough there is graffiti on the bus shelters but they are still standing and all the glass panels remain intact. Some areas in Wolverhampton are not that fortunate. Many of the phone boxes are erected minus the windows to enable them to survive just that little bit longer.

Vandalism is a criminal offence and should not be taken lightly. Both teachers and parents should teach children this at an early age. Every year millions of pounds is spent on repairing vandal’s work. It costs money to replace a shop window every time it is broken and it also costs money for somebody to stand there and scrub graffiti off a wall for hours at a time. Often adolescents are not aware of these costs involved and the consequences.

I can never see vandalism coming to stop especially in deprived areas where there is nothing for people to do. It is a bad thing and although graffiti looks like a piece of art in the right place I don’t agree it should be on buildings that people have put their hard earned money into. I believe the government can do more about it though. Heavier punishments could be handed out although I am not sure that will make people stop. The government could create more jobs and give the under privileged more chances in life. Not enough is done to keep people, especially youngsters off the streets causing vandalism.

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