Their anger was obvious.

“These juveniles need to have their feet held to the fire!” commented one person at the end of the Gazette’s online article about teen vandals who trashed a Charleston school.

“To do nothing only inspires more kids to do the same.”

Said another, “This is probably just the beginning of what they’re capable of.”

Another: “They should be publicly shamed. Make them stand in front of the school they damaged for a day, then move them to another public place for a day.”

Since I was angry myself, I chewed through the comments. The recent local vandalism problem was already fresh in my mind, as it had been a main topic of conversation during our dinner with Desper Lemon, a Ward 7 Councilman in St. Albans. 

“They did thousands of dollars of damage to the old Parkway Supermarket, spray-painted the church on Forrestal, damaged cars up and down the street,” said Lemon. “One 12-year-old boy is responsible for most of it, but his family doesn’t have the money to pay for the damage, and you aren’t even allowed to print the kid’s name in the paper, so nothing happens. He’s right back out there.” 

Lemon is frustrated because even though St. Albans already has a curfew that might help deter some of the vandalism, it isn’t being enforced. 

When the Vermont home of the late poet Robert Frost was badly vandalized by a group of 28 teenagers, part of their sentence included a requirement to take a class on Frost’s poetry. 

“I was thinking if these teens had a better understanding of who Robert Frost was and his contribution to society, they might be more respectful of other people’s property in the future and learn something from the experience,” said the prosecutor.

I like that the prosecutor was willing to try something different with the offenders, but my thinking is more aligned with those commenting on the newspaper’s site, which is basically that the vandals need to be forced to clean up their own mess. Until a person has spent hours trying to scrub spray paint off brick, they don’t fully appreciate the stupidity and senselessness of the damage they’ve caused.  

We can commiserate, point fingers at the parents, blame society and the lack of recreation choices available for teens, but the only solution is to come up with a punishment that fits the crime, and publish the results for everyone to see. The vandals need to have their actions made to be an embarrassment to them, and their punishment distasteful and harsh enough that to copy their actions would be foolish. We can’t allow them to be seen as cool. 

There are some who defend graffiti as “street art,” but street art and vandalism are two different things. For every one graffiti artist who does beautiful work, a dozen or more are just kids writing their names. True street art is far less common than vandalism, and while some graffiti <I>is<P> art, most is not. Most is vandalism.

Unfortunately, vandalism is generally considered a low priority by police, even though it’s a gateway crime. In the same way torturing animals is an indicator of future violence, graffiti and vandalism are indicators of future anti-social behavior. They usually move on to other, worse crimes.

There’s a temptation to excuse away the actions of these delinquents because we feel sorry for them, saying they’re acting out of anger or frustration and that graffiti and window-breaking serve as an outlet for them, but if their acts go unpunished, what’s to prevent them from thinking other more serious offenses won’t be overlooked, too? 

They might’ve been dealt a bad hand, but they don’t have to play it. 

We need to enforce curfews, designate a few bare walls where graffiti would be allowed, and most of all, we need to repeal the law that protects the identities of the offenders. 

They need to be held accountable for their behavior, and they also need to repay their victims for damages. In some cities, juvenile offenders are required to work for Habitat for Humanity, the nonprofit group that builds homes for low-income people. The state’s victim restitution fund pays the offender minimum wage for their time, except their earnings are sent directly to the victim.  

Instead of being sent to a detention facility, these teens learn construction skills, how to use tools, and other life skills, like showing up on time. And they see how long it takes to earn enough money to cover the cost of the damage they’ve done.

While it’s easy to sit back and say, “Make them clean up their mess,” it will be hard to enforce unless someone steps forward to volunteer. We need a group or individuals willing to be responsible for making certain the vandals get the work done. We have to stop saying it’s for the courts or police to handle. 

It’s the community’s problem, and it’s for the community to handle.

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