Picture this youre sitting in class minding your own affairs when you notice your arm has

a dark
stain. Wondering where this mark came from, you look to your desk to see a thick dark line made
by a pencil stretched across the desk.
An act of this kind is called vandalism; the action involving the deliberate destruction or damage
of public or private property. Vandalism happens in schools everyday and in most cases is never
taken seriously.
The smallest act of vandalism can cause a lasting effect on others. You may think it was just a
simple act of writing on a desk and that it can be erased, but this is vandalism and thats what it
should be considered. Every act of vandalism in school should be handled in a serious manner.
Our (Joplin Schools) position is that if minor situations are allowed to go unaddressed then it
gives the appearance that any situation would be ignored, said Jim Hounschell, attendance and
safety officer at Joplin High School.
If we allow students to vandalize property now, no matter how simple it is, how do we expect
these students to act once they become adults and venture out into the real world where
vandalism will not be accepted? We should be sending well-behaved students out into the world,
not promoting criminals.
Penalties for vandalism often include repairing the damaged property, paying for someone else
to repair the property, fines as high or higher than $500, expulsion from school, detention in a
juvenile facility, community service, up to three years on probation and in some cases even jail
time.
Simplest (act of vandalism) would be detention, picking up or cleaning up an area, said Greg
Boyd, Junior principal at JHS. Biggest long term suspension, pay restoration and criminal charges
filed.
In the state of Missouri, average fines for vandalism are $5,000, average jail time is five years
and average probation is two years.
(Punishment for vandalism) ranges on the degree of the vandalism, anywhere from the
replacement cost, to criminal prosecution, said Boyd.
It would be nice to be able to sit down in class and look down to a clean desk everyday. There
have been many times through my high school career that I have looked down to see a desk
scribbled on and could swear I had walked into an elementary school classroom. During our high
school years we are approaching adulthood, where you would expect maturity to be a major
priority. Many teens want to be treated like adults, so we should treat them as such by adding
punishment to those who are irresponsible and find it fun to vandalize the high school.
Vandalism is defined as the intentional and malicious destruction of or damage to the property of
another. Vandalism is governed by state statutes, which vary according to state. In most cases,
statutes provide for penalties based upon the value of the property damage.
Vandalism takes on many forms it can include slashing someones tires, spray painting on the
side of commercial trucks or buses, as well as spraying graffiti on the walls or signs on a freeway.
It can include smashing mail boxes, breaking somebodys car windows or throwing blocks
through the windows of someones residence.
The damage can be to both public and personal property. In many cases, vandalism is committed
by minors, who are working in groups of two or more. In fact, vandalism is a common form of
juvenile crime, with the peak period for committing property crimes ranging between the ages of
15 and 21. In the United States, adolescent vandalism, including destruction of school property,
costs millions of dollars in damages each year.

Aside from adolescent vandalism, vandalism can also be a way for an adult to vent ones anger.
It is not uncommon for a jilted lover or angry ex-spouse to intentionally destroy property out of
bitterness, jealousy or rage. In these types of cases, the vandalism is usually directed towards a
target, as opposed to being a random act. A bitter ex-spouse might burn their spouses clothes,
break their golf clubs or bash their car windows in.
Vandalism is also a frequent gang-related crime. A significant amount of graffiti is the product of
gangs, claiming their supposed territory" and warning other gangs to stay away. Gang-related
graffiti can be seen painted across signs, buildings, freeways, buses and other walls.
Due to the fact that vandalism costs our government and essentially our taxpayers a billion
dollars each year, modern statutes criminalize intentional acts to destroy public and private
property. The penalties for a conviction can include jail or prison sentencing, fines, restitution,
community service and probation or parole.
In the majority of cases, a first time vandalism charge will be prosecuted as a misdemeanor if the
damage was valued below $400, however, penalties increase with each subsequent conviction. If
the damage was valued above $400, it can be prosecuted as a felony offense. Either way, you
will carry the burden of a criminal record which will inhibit future employment and housing
pursuits, in addition to impeding your ability to get a financial or educational loan. If you have
been arrested for vandalism, no matter how minor the damage might seem it is essential that
you retain the services of an experienced Orange County criminal defense attorney.
The lack of consistency in reporting school vandalism and break-ins means that cost estimates are similarly imprecise. Vandalism costs
are usually the result of numerous small incidents, rather than more-serious incidents. Various estimates reveal that the costs of school
vandalism are both high and increasing.9 In 1970, costs of school vandalism in the United States were estimated at $200 million,
climbing to an estimated $600 million in 1990.10 Not only does school vandalism have fiscal consequences associated with repairing or
replacing damaged or stolen property and paying higher insurance premiums if schools are not self-insured, but it also takes its toll in
terms of aspects such as difficulties in finding temporary accommodations and negative effects on student, staff, and community
morale.
Not all incidents of vandalism and break-ins have the same effect on the school environment. Again, two useful dimensions for
understanding the problems impact are the monetary cost (where the repair charges are high), and the social cost (where the event
has a significant negative impact on student, staff, and community morale). Events with high monetary and social costs typically occur
less frequently than those with low monetary and social costs.11

There will be a lot of trouble for the teachers , students and principles as the teachers and principle would
have to find out who caused the vandalisms and the student might be accidentally blamed for doing a
crime he or she did not commit. The visitors who visit the school will have a bad impression on that school
as the certain place is vandalised.
Guess who usually pays for the vandalised properties in school? The principle of course! That will affect the
school budget as if more people vandalises, the principle will have to fork out more money to pay for the
damage.The vandalisms will affect the students as it distracts them. It also affects the teacher's teaching
as they will have to stop and scold the pupils who are talking about the vandalisms.In our community, the
ones that are affected by the vandalisms are families and workers. Let's just say that everyone is affected,
even animals. The families will have to pay for the damage. The animals might mistaken some vandalism
for their nest or something and hurt themselves. The environment will be affected as the waste the
vandalizers made might be thrown away anyhow.
Usually the ones who pays for the damage are the parents of the vandalizers or the government as they
sent people to repair the damage.The families are affected by the vandalisms as they might be hurt by
sharp litters around them. The animals, like I've said earlier, will be hurt as it mistook something for it's
home or food. The environment, will be damaged as the litter will have more bacteria growing and it might
kill the plants or tiny organisms.

=vandalism by emotional reasons (the vandal is committing the crime because hes angry, stressed out or extremely depressed and
he vents it into something)
=vandalism by damage (the vandal sees something which is already damaged and gets the tend to damage it more)
=vandalism by boredom (the vandal has nothing else to do and the rest follows)
=vandalism in a group (the vandal is forced to commit the vandalism in order to stay in the group hes member of and thats how it
begins)
+to reduce the emotional reasons, you can take the vandal to a psychiatrist. He or she will ask the vandal some questions and,
eventually, come with an answer to help him or her.
+Reducing the vandalism by damage is actually quite easy to do, but its really expensive. Repairing the damage before the vandal
can worsen it is the best way to get the job done.
+Vandalism by boredom is not so hard either, because theres always something to do except this. As long as you WANT to do
something.
+Vandalism in a group is a little harder to do, but if you REALLY want to reduce it, you just need to quit the membership in this
group and you dont need to do anything.