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Graffiti vandals

Tottie's picture
destruction | graffiti | tag | vandalism Tottie - Saturday, April 8, 2006 - 11:23pm

Why is it that some young people - for the most part young males get such a high out of damaging or destroying people's property vandalizing with paint?

It seems to be a world wide phenomenon - grubby boys with back packs of paint (often stolen) who leave their mark or tag, or just paint obscentities on public and private property.

Often they are not caught - they damage cameras set up to catch them, they visit in the dead of night and take only minutes to do their dirty deed. They wear clothing that helps disguise them - including hats pulled over their faces.

It is often too hard for private individuals to clean off property and governments are spending millions in an effort t rid communities of unsightly mess.

I don't understand why they do it - and why they feel that they have a right to damage other people's property!

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realitycheck's picture

I will debate this one...

realitycheck; Sunday, April 9, 2006 - 8:12pm

I myself do graffiti. I have done it on a semi professional level for years. There's a huge difference between "real" graffiti (art) and vandalism.
I hate stupid kids that spraypaint "FUCK" on the side of a business. You are right, it is costly and stupid. That's awful.

BUT, In Detroit there are some incredible artists. The most amazing work I have seen peroid. One of my associates is so unbelievable that he was hired to do a 9/11 mural in Washington DC.
The amount of time spent on these murals is endless. Some murals take years to complete. I actually love seeing them. The detail blows my mind. I'll scan some of the pics I have and try to post them tomorrow.

Here in "the D", we love real graffiti. Some businesses even rncourage good artists to "paint" their walls - inside and out.
I have been hired to "spray" severl rooms in clubs and houses. My work is by no means as impressive as some of what Detroit has to offer.

I guess I have to admit that I like graffiti.

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Tottie's picture

My beef is with vandals.

Tottie; Sunday, April 9, 2006 - 8:52pm

We too have legal art (murals) or whatever but my reference was to those charmers who feel that they have a right to paint their stuff on property that they have no right to deface.

I do appreciate the art - the murals and the work that is done on our endless walls around town.

Graffiti vandals have damaged private and public fences, trains, buses, buildings, signs etc.

I have also had my car painted.

I have no problem with work done by professional artists - some of it is very clever. It is the unwanted illegal stuff that I take issue with.

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mrhobbie's picture

Here is the truthful answer

mrhobbie; Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - 4:21am

I gotta tell you the truth here, I have experience in this. I am now in my 30's but back in the late 80,s and early 90's I was one of those vandals you speak of. Why do youngsters vandal? Well, they just don't think about the property they are damaging much. They are not thinking about that someone has to pay to clean it up. When you are 15 or 16 years old your brain is just not all there, you are in fact pretty stupid. As an adult your thoughts revolve around health, career, family and other things of that nature. Most (not all) teenagers aren't thinking about that kind of stuff. They are thinking of girls/boys, popularity and being cool to their peers. I can remember what an addiction it was for me back in the days. We used to hit the freeways, billboards or any other hot spots we could get. I come from Los Angeles so getting some hot spots would get your name (tagging name) popular. Getting up is what it is called and for taggers getting up is one of the main things in their life. You got to understand that many taggers don't come from the best environment and tagging becomes a way of life for them. It's like they get a high off of it. A kid is really fortunate to grow up in a 'Leave it to Beaver' type atmosphere so they don't get caught up in this stuff. I am not for tagging, as a matter of fact I hate it but from experience I can understand where they are coming from.

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