On Monday the 22nd of April 2013 Garda Emma from Dundrum Garda Station came to talk to our class about vandalism. Vandalism is when somebody destroys property that is not theirs. Doing graffiti on somebody else's wall, smashing other people's windows and destroying somebody else's trees are all examples of vandalism.
Garda Emma told us that once an old lady was living on her own and she became ill. Her neighbour hadn't got a phone to ring for help so she ran to the nearest phone - box but someone had cut off the phone so she had to run a further distance to call for help. If someone hadn't cut off the phone the old lady could have got help a lot quicker.
It is not vandalism if you accidentally kick a ball through your neighbours window. You just have to own up to it and say you're sorry. Garda Emma doesn't understand why people vandalise.If you really want to do graffiti, go to an art centre where you can graffiti for fun on walls made especially for this. Then there is no reason to vandalise.
At the time you vandalise you might think it is fun, but it can affect other people as well. Remember to think before you do something you're not sure about. If you vandalise ,you will get fined or have to go to court. Now our class knows what vandalism is, and why it's wrong.
Vandalism
The other day garda Emma came into our school to talk to us
about vadalism. She has come into our class a few times to chat about different
topics like internet safety and what she does in a normal day. First we chatted
about the different forms of vandalism. Here are some of the different forms of
vandalism.
·
Graffiti.
·
Damage to someone else’s property.
·
If you broke something like a tree or a phone
box.
·
If you smashed a window on purpose.
We also talked about the affects of vandalism which
were.......
·
It would go on your permanent record and
that could prevent you from getting into
some countries and getting a good job in the future.
·
It could upset a lot of people, for
example if you smashed the window of an old lady’s house it might upset and
scare her and your friends mightn't like you because you did that.
·
It could put someone's life in danger,
for example if an old lady’s neighbour came to check on her and she was very
sick she mightn’t have a phone and she could go out to use a phone box but it
could be smashed and then she has lost valuable time having to go to the next phone
box.
·
If you kicked a stone into a person's window
and it smashed something like a frame or vase which has been in the family for
generations.
A lot of us thought that going into a house and messing up
everything inside would be vandalism but that would be more serious crime. But
we found out if you broke the door attempting to get in that would be
vandalism.
Garda Emma warned us not to be pressured by our friends or
someone else into doing something like vandalism and if they did they were not
your friends and you shouldn't be friends with people who think this is fun as
it's not.
Well, that was what we learned about vandalism and I'm sure
none of us would ever do anything like that!
Molly Lynch
On Monday 22/4/13 Garda Emma came in to talk to the two 5th
classes about vandalism. She told us that we should never do graffiti on other
peoples property and that if you do its criminal damage. Also if you were
playing football and your football hit a window it would not be criminal damage
if it was by accident but if it was on purpose it would be criminal damage. For
other serious crimes e.g. throwing stones at cars or houses you can be brought
to court. Previously Emma had told us about her job and internet safety which
Sarah told you about earlier. I found Emma’s talk very interesting and look
forward to seeing her again in the future.
By Rebecca
5th
Class
Ms Keane
