Is Vandalism a Problem at HHS?

  Throughout my three years at HHS, I have spotted quite a lot of tagging throughout the entire school campus. Most people may think it’s just a way people express themselves, but what they don’t know is that the school has to pay for the damages. Hueneme High School has been dealing with students vandalizing the school campus for as far back as three years. School campuses shouldn’t be a student’s canvas. Yes, it’s okay for students to express their creativity and skills but as HHS Head Campus Supervisor, Isaiah Coleman said “ desks, lockers, water fountains, tables, restroom stalls, windows, and doors are things around campus that have been vandalized” and this has been a recurring thing that has to stop. Vandalizing something the school provides for us like desks is not okay in any way”…damaging property the school provides for us isn’t good..we wouldn’t want people vandalizing stuff in our homes”.  No person would ever want their belongings vandalized so why do it if you wouldn’t like someone doing the same to you? 

  During an interview with Huenemes SRO (School Resource Officer), Ed Murillo gave his view on graffiti and vandalism “Graffiti isn’t always bad as long as it is done in an appropriate area that isn’t a school campus” and that is true some people use graffiti in a good way but most of the vandalism around HHS is in fact gang-related tagging style. An HHS junior, Yvonne Bibiano stated “When I hear the word vandalism I think about gang relations…” Some of the students believe that tagging post stickers and sticking them on the restroom stalls or lunch tables isn’t vandalism, but it in fact is a way of vandalism even if the harm wasn’t directly on campus-owned property. Hueneme’s SRO Murillo addressed this situation: “…if the damages are worth more than $400, the person responsible for the damage will be arrested.” Though some may ask how we can prevent vandalism, there doesn’t seem to be many solutions. Officer Murillo stated that “there’s not much we can do to prevent it from happening… It’s their actions. They chose to do that.” Vandalizing isn’t something people should do, especially students. Yes, some students may not like school. That’s understandable. But there is no need for someone to damage the school with illicit comments and tags. 

  Next time the idea of vandalizing school property pops into your head, ignore it. The consequences aren’t something you want to face, not to mention the fact that it is disrespectful. HHS has art classes. You can use those classes to release all of your feelings and thoughts onto a canvas or piece of paper instead of damaging school property. Vandalism isn’t something that only happens at HHS. There are probably many other schools that deal with similar problems. If you ever see someone vandalizing school property you can try to prevent them from doing so. If the person doesn’t listen, you may want to inform a school faculty member or Officer Murillo. If you ever need to contact him, he can be reached through his email: [email protected] or in room O2.