School Vandalism in EAC

School vandalism refers to students’ malicious actions of damaging school facilities and properties. Even though this can be seen as a minuscule problem, there are severe problems behind it. Vandalism harms and disrupts the school environment and negatively affects educational values. To be more exact, school vandalism ranges from simple acts such as scribbling on a desk to serious vandalism such as damaging significant properties. In this way, schools with frequent vandalism are at greater risk of not only making students utilize poor-quality facilities but also creating a negative perception of the school. For these reasons, school vandalism must be addressed, and students also need to consider how this problem must be solved in which way. 

Vandalism in our school: Restrooms

There have actually been several cases of vandalism in our school. In particular, they frequently happen in the restrooms. For example, recently, the toilet stall door in the boys’ restroom next to classroom 29 was broken. The problem here was that while most places in the school had surveillance cameras, the restrooms in our school did not, and since they were such spaces for students only, some students who committed such vandalism could do so without worrying about what others think and without any sense of responsibility. As such, uncomfortable conditions in our school may cause considerable inconvenience for students.

Another example of school vandalism in our school is that there are no partitions between the urinals in the restroom next to classroom 20. The school had tried to install new partitions several times, but the partitions were broken every time; as a result, our school stopped installing them. Until now, no partitions have been installed, which is a clear example of some anonymous students not respecting school property. This kind of repeated vandalism not only wastes school resources but also threatens the safety and convenience of students.

• No partitions between urinals

Reason for Vandalism? / How to Solve?

Even if these types of vandalism are supported by absurd reasons, there must be some basis for damaging school facilities. Among them, the psychological background of these behaviors commonly tends to be a sense of rebellion against the simple school rules. Moreover, the behavior of students who express stress or dissatisfaction felt at school through vandalism must be considered. These bases can be seen through the examples of vandalism that occurred in our school. The fact that such cases frequently occur in the restroom indicates that it is a selfish action to avoid punishment while expressing feelings of rebellion by taking advantage of anonymity. In this way, the basis for vandalism is a complex intertwining of various thoughts, but generally revealing rebellion against the school; even so, since it is a public institution, such behaviors can not be justified.

However, this problem is not just about destroying school property. Some students do not care about the school environment, and it also frequently occurs in the bathrooms. Some of them ruin the school environment in all sorts of small ways, such as leaving unused toilet paper on the floor, defecating in inappropriate places, and not caring about hygiene. As such, it can be concluded that they simply view school as a public institution and do not consider it a precious place. Would they do the same actions at home? For this reason, our school strictly punishes students who damage school facilities. However, the fact is that it is difficult to catch students who commit such acts because it is ethically impossible to monitor students by installing cameras in the bathroom. Moreover, it is because of our Child Protection Program, which restricts adults from using the same restrooms as students.

Their selfish behavior of not getting caught is almost impossible to stop, so it is practical to reduce its frequency by changing their perception of our school. That is why it is necessary to recognize the seriousness of the problem and seek improvement measures, such as surveying to collect students’ opinions. If students feel that their opinions are reflected, their awareness and sense of belonging to the school may increase, and it will have a positive effect on reducing the frequency of vandalism. In this way, the most important thing is to improve their perception of the school as a part of their lives and homes, not just a public institution to disrupt.

This problem of school vandalism is such a serious issue that can not be dismissed as a simple prank. All stakeholders must work not only to reduce the frequency of school vandalism but also to create an environment where students can see their school life as an important part of their lives. In this way, students must work together to reduce vandalism and help each other to respect our school.