The Menace of School Vandalism in National Development

By Joe Kingsley Eyiah, OCT, Brookview Middle School, Toronto



Recent news report reaching us from Aworowa in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana, (Jan. 25, GNA) speaks of students of Akumfi-Ameyaw Senior High School at Aworowa in the Techiman Municipality going on a rampage and causing damage to a number of bungalows and other properties in the school. This act of school vandalism is alleged to have been championed by young people between the ages of 17years and 20years. This news is disturbing indeed, especially, at a time when Ghana is struggling to develop good infrastructure for our schools.

The fact is that school vandalism is not the headache of only developing countries like Ghana. It is a complex problem area of extreme social importance to any well-meaning nation that takes national development seriously. As I was digesting the unfortunate news of school vandalism from Ghana, news came from Worcester in the United States of America that, “City Councilors last night expressed disgust with the extensive vandalism that occurred in Belmont Street Community School this week and announced an effort to raise reward money.” Councilor-at-Large Frederick C. Rushton announced “I’ll kick in the first $100” of what he hopes will become a $5,000 to $10,000 reward for information leading to the prosecution of those responsible. “The quicker we can catch these punks and get them behind bars the better.” (Telegram & Gazette, the New York Times Co.)

From nearby Halton District School Board in the Ontario Province of Canada around the same time was reported another school vandalism that saw library computers and student tables overturned, windows broken — just senseless, random destruction! The report stated further that on top of damaging school equipment, the vandals also discharged a fire extinguisher inside one of the classrooms, coating the room’s walls, student work, and the insides of books with a thick layer of white chemical powder. They also smashed the school’s fish tanks, killing at least 10 fish. And that, ‘school officials are still calculating the damage, but Tadman said that one police officer estimated the damage at tens of thousands of dollars’.

According to police, 11 of the school’s 19 classrooms and the library were damaged after two vandals broke into the school just after 1 a.m. last Tuesday. Two 19-year-old men, Christopher Wilkinson, and Robert Tressel, both from Acton, are facing charges of break and enter and mischief. The two are also charged with cruelty to animals. It is not known if the suspects were former students of the school.

There could be many other acts of school vandalism elsewhere apart from those in the news from Ghana, USA and Canada. Obviously, school vandalism is a global phenomenon that needs to be tackled seriously by any national government as well as educators who seek national development. There should be no room for school vandalism in our national development!

I therefore, as an educationist cum social commentator, humbly bring to the public for discussion how best we can help prevent school vandalism.









What Is Vandalism?

Vandalism is simply defined as the willful damage or deface of the property of others; or action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to private or public property. However, there are many other definitions of the word. Interestingly, most of the definitions have common elements, such as: "an intentional act aimed at damaging or destroying an object that is another's property" (Moser, 1992); "a voluntary degradation of the environment with no profit motive whatsoever, the results of which are considered damage by the actor(s) as well as the victim in relation to the norms that govern the situation" (Goldstein, 1996, p. 19); and "the willful or malicious destruction, injury, disfigurement, or defacement of property without the consent of the owner" (Casserly, Bass, & Garrett, 1982, p. 4).

The elements show that vandalism continues to be disrespectful and punishable act that affect people wherever it is carried out, schools inclusive!

Statistics in USA and from elsewhere show that;

-vandalism is usually committed by adolescent boys between the ages of 10 and 19; and above 20 years as in the case of university/polytechnic students in Ghana

-42% of all teen arrests are for vandalism

-school-related vandalism alone in the USA in 2004 cost over $93 Million!

-vandalism costs in America last year exceeded $650 Million!!!

In these tough economic times, vandalism costs us thousands of jobs, millions of dollars in local investment, millions in tax dollars better spent on schools, fixing community needs, providing scholarships; it hurts the people and communities that can least afford to repair or replace things that are broken or vandalized.

Vandalism hurts people and communities economically, psychologically, culturally, politically...and for no good reason.





Preventing School Vandalism



We have to stop vandalism and crime and ultimately make the world a better place. How?

What are the factors which foster vandalism in the school environment? Could preventive discipline and effective school leadership help to prevent school vandalism?

Since vandalism is often the harbinger of more serious crime, the factors which promote such acts in our school environment must be quickly identified and managed to nib them in the bud. Such factors include frustration on the part of students who fail to achieve academically (mismatch of academic materials for struggling students); breakdown in communication between school administration and the students’ body; extinction and punishment which tend to promote aggression among students and lack of extra-curricular activities in our schools leading to boredom and restlessness among the student population.

School administration ought to open effective channels of communications through which students (especially those in boarding houses) grievances could be redressed. The admin must work co-operatively with elected student representative councils in our schools to solve problems which poison peaceful atmosphere. My experience as once a College administrator in Ghana and as a lead teacher of Grade 8 in Toronto has taught me that when students have access to the administration of their schools there is always a good rapport between student leaders and the school admin. Such atmosphere promotes cordiality and mutual understanding among the school community. Potential vandals are therefore put to sleep in such atmosphere.

Preventive discipline instead of punitive punishment must be employed at our schools to curb unacceptable behaviors. In this area, teachers must be fair and firm. Parents must cooperate with teachers in managing students’ behavior.

There should be adequate after classroom activities to engage students gainful after hard academic work to redirect the youthful energies which are often misused!

All said and done, schools must uphold high values of life including respect for property, responsibility, truthfulness, hard work and high expectations. There must be reward for appropriate behavior through praises and words of encouragement; and consequences for every inappropriate behavior.

The objective of every school in our efforts at national development must be “that youth on the threshold of life might be ready to take their place as good citizens, well prepared for the practical experiences of living, fully developed physically, God-fearing, with characters untarnished and hearts true to principle.” There must be no room for vandalism in our schools.

I finally draw attention of all educators and students to the wise saying of the prolific Christian writer of blessed memory, Ellen G. White, on education that, “True education means more than pursuing a certain course of study. It has to do with the whole person, and the whole period of existence possible to human beings. It is the harmonious development of the physical, the mental and the spiritual powers.”