Vandalism In Schools Increased In Severity

Vandalism in school has become increasingly normalized over the years, with students not even being aware that they’re vandalizing property at times. This becomes an issue not only because of the lack of cleanliness but the effects educators have to deal with.

“Graffiti and vandalism can cost a school a great deal of money in repairs,” Intervention Central stated. They also may contribute to a perception that the school is not well-cared for and is an unsafe environment for students and staff,”

To assess the frequency and relevance of vandalism at John. F Kennedy Highschool, teachers and staff were interviewed about their experiences and concerns on the matter.

In the first interview with Melissa Dohm, the art teacher at JFK had to say “I’ve had items broken, I’ve had materials damaged … I’ve had students write on the walls and desks,” Dohm said. “I would say daily, I have at least some form of supply damage,”

She then further commented that there are students who break or misuse items by pure accident, but then there’s also students who play around with supplies and get rid of them completely once broken. The students are told before each art project the instructions and how to not damage the supplies, yet Dohm said it still frequently happens.

When asking Dohm on how the aftermath of damage is dealt with, she replied with “Yeah, I will have to replace all damaged equipment, and usually when you buy these items you have to buy them in bulk,”

Dohm explained that buying a ruler to replace a damaged one will end up being more expensive rather than buying 30 rulers in bulk. She also added that at the start of the school year, teachers don’t have immediate access to their funds which also makes it difficult when trying to buy the right amount of supplies, especially when supplies end up damaged later in the year.

Additionally, further security measures were added due to vandalism that occurred even outside of classrooms.

“The security cameras were added because of vandalism as well as break ins to the portables,” said Dohm.

In another interview with assistant principal Joshua Hunter, he said, “It’s not as often or as frequent as I’ve seen in other schools or summer schools, but it’s there,” Hunter responded with, "Like writing on desks and the bathroom things like that. A couple of times in the past we’ve been tagged with people spraypainting stuff.”

He explained that sometimes things written on school property are silly, but other times they’re hateful. In the case where something hateful gets written, first they contact custodial staff to get rid of things written in sharpie.

If that doesn’t work, they contact maintenance and ground staff to paint over the damages. The school doesn't necessarily have to pay the staff as they’re paid for by the district, however there may be additional costs depending on what was broken.

It may also delay other projects or things that the staff have scheduled, but if it’s something less serious then they can push it back.

“Departments are given money to buy supplies, but it’s not that much, especially in an art department or things like that,” Hunter explained. “So if a classroom was broken into and stuff is stolen, it can be an issue because it’s hard to replace some of those things,”

He followed by saying that as students in high school, you should know right from wrong and consequences to your actions. He emphasized the fact that most of the time, people don’t think before they act which is why so many students mindlessly vandalize things.

Conclusively, Hunter said that “If I had to have a last thought, it would be that you’re better than that.”

Even with the efforts of the teachers and staff members, vandalism leaves a lasting mark on the school. Actions that may seem small like drawing on the walls costs time, money and supplies, all of which could’ve gone toward improving the experience at JFK instead.

Although it may be tempting to damage school property at the moment, it’s important to remember that its consequences go beyond farther than a joke.

Photo by Khanh Do | Gums filled desks in classroom.