GRAFFITI – ART OR VANDALISM?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Artistic Graffiti at Brockhill Park

By Katie (Year 9)

Members of the public are being encouraged to text in information about graffiti in a new crackdown that has already led to three arrests. Spokesmen for Kent police said: “Graffiti brings the area down and causes thousands of pounds worth of damage. We’re all victims of it in terms of having to pay bills and council tax.”

Beth, a Year 9 Brockhill Park Performing Arts College student, thinks that “Graffiti is artistic but untidy”. Ricky, another Year 9 Brockhill student, thinks that graffiti “is artistic, but is also vandalism to the environment.”

BT and Virgin Media phone boxes dotted around Folkestone are common targets for graffiti sprayers, and it costs £200 to repaint each one. It is estimated that graffiti causes £1 billion worth of damage in the UK each year.