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Gather a group of youngsters of
any age in a school, a youth club, a voluntary organisation, a
religious setting or in a young offenders institution. Start by
setting some ground rules for an open, direct and honest group
discussion on what should be done to reduce acts of vandalism. There
must be respect for one another’s views, no shouting, mocking or
sulking. Disagreement is allowed but each view must be supported with
reasons and one must expect one’s reasons to be challenged. This is
not personal but an attempt to get some sensible suggestions to help
everybody. The facilitator is not an authority figure but someone who
helps the discussion, keeps it on track and helps people keep to the
rules. The facilitator’s views hold no more weight than any other
member’s.
Here is how dialogue in a
vandalism class might go. The bold text is the facilitator’s
questions. The text in square brackets is responses of the educands or
a note from me about the question.
What do we mean by vandalism?
[There would be a huge range of examples such as spray paining,
breaking windows, scratching car paintwork, pulling up plants and so
on].
Why do people do these kinds
of things? [Responses: boredom, excitement, showing off, revenge,
anger at one’s parents, or teachers or society as a whole].
Is it right to smash someone’s
car windows for fun? [Hopefully most of the responses would be no
because it costs money to fix and causes great disappointment – a
person may love their car. A few responses may be along the lines of
yes it’s okay if the person is rich].
Say a person is rich – would
he/she be any less disappointed – would they still be inconvenienced,
have to take time off work? [This question is striving to generate
empathy]
If the city council planted a
whole row of new trees and people came along and ripped them up, what
would the result of that be? [Hopefully people would realise there
would be no more trees and the area would continue to look not so
nice].
Are all bored people vandals -
what could people do if they are bored? [No and hopefully a range
of options would come out. The facilitator could probe each response
and ask how people get involved in that activity.
When you set fire to a car it
probably is exciting because of the fear and the spectacle – but what
are the risks involved in this? [Getting burnt and getting caught].
What would it mean to you to
get burnt or caught? [This question is striving to get people to
recognise consequences].
Can some of you give examples
where vandals have done something to you or your family or your area?
[Let lots of examples come out].
How did you feel about that
(quote the act)? [Again an attempt at empathy generation].
What do you think of people
who do that – are they clever or heroes? [Hopefully the majority
of responses will be no. Some will be yes so follow with next
question].
If someone was a vandal
because they had low self-esteem and wanted to show off – how else
could they do this instead of smashing things? [Get people
thinking of alternatives].
Vandalism education – the
forefront of behavioural change
The questions I’ve just listed
are a preliminary attempt. I’ve never tried them in a class and I
wonder if anyone has. After conducting these dialogues a few times the
questions would get better and the same responses from different
groups would probably become apparent. Remember also that to see
change the vandalism education dialogues would have to take place over
a number of weeks. Vandalism education is a part of values education
and being a values facilitator is not easy. It takes patience and a
willingness to allow people to say “the wrong thing” but question in a
skilful way that gets them to reflect on their responses.
It will be worthwhile reading
these two books as they will give ideas for how teachers should be
trained to conducts vandalism education classes.
Values and teacher education: volume one.
Values and teacher education: volume two.
Dr Bill would be delighted to talk at your next conference or event
and give more details on how a value education approach can improve
the effectiveness of vandalisim education. Contact him on
bill@valueseducation.co.uk
Copyright © 2008 Values Education Ltd
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