Vandalism

Before this article we were very upset about this subject. But after this “safari” for information we are even more worried about this situation. After much of discussion, we would like to present our opinion on this matter.

Vandals are usually people who have dropped out of, or failed in school, or who are unemployed. We would like to add that vandals are also fanatics or hooligans who destroy property in the name of cause or to support a team. We think these people must have deep personal problems and do not feel they belong in society. This can lead to destructive behaviour (video1).

They think that breaking and destroying public property (video2) gives them power, but they are wrong. Furthermore, they may have strange haircuts or strange tattoos or strange earrings on their body. They usually hide their face by wearing scarves and their clothes reflect their beliefs. Their habits are to act as a team and attack and destroy.

Because we are all upset and horrified about this matter, we have tried to find some solutions and would like to make some suggestions to solve this terrible problem. One practical suggestion is to improve the security of the buildings by putting fences around buildings that are likely to be vandalized. Another suggestion is to have police protection at night. Moreover, the governments must provide better educational facilities in poor neighborhoods so the youngsters would not feel rejected and without employment prospects.

*Vandals in history: In the first Christian years Vandals various Germanic tribes that set out from the region of current Poland, in the 4th century A.D., to conquer the Roman Empire. They passed through Galatia and reached the Iberian Peninsula, where they were stopped at the command of the Romans by another Germanic tribe, the Vissigoths, and were afterwards forced to move on to Africa. In 439 A.D., after a lot of battles, they occupied Carthagena and made it their capital. After several pirate-like raids, they managed to reach Greece and finally, to occupy Rome in 455 A.D. They plundered the whole city and in two weeks they had ferociously destroyed all the works of art: buildings, statues, etc. They were finally annihilated by the Byzantine Emperor Justin in 534 A.D. Their destructive behaviour has been recorded in history as “vandalism”, and, from then on, each act of destruction aimed at monuments of culture is named ‘vandalism’.

Authors: Dimitris Giannopoulos(GR), Barbora Priecelová(SK), Ludovica Leone(IT)