Frankston students have given a collective thumbs-down to illegal graffiti as part of a program to tackle vandalism on our streets.
The Grade 6 students condemned unsightly graffiti in a writing competition run by Frankston City Council as part of its Responsible Street Art initiative, with five youngsters being named the winners for their responses.
Duke, from Frankston Primary School, wrote: “Graffiti can be beautiful. It can be a masterpiece. Yet mindless, illegal graffiti makes our streets look like we don’t care, it makes them look ugly. Illegal tagging is meaningless. Pointless. It’s an individual making an anarchistic statement, about what? It isn’t for the community.”
Cai, from Ballam Park Primary School, wrote: “Graffiti is a crime! Graffitiing is breaking more than one law. Firstly, sometimes the graffiti is making the environment look unpleasant and not presentable to the public. Secondly, you litter by leaving your used cans on the footpath and they eventually end up inside sea life. GRAFFITIING IS NOT COOL!”
Dieter, from Kinsley Park Primary School, wrote: “I dislike graffiti because it tarnishes an awe-inspiring town that is supposed to give comfort to its people. It ruins outstanding architecture and gorgeous streets. We must stop it before tourists go away and the citizens are in dismay. I don’t like graffiti and we must stop it. It ruins Frankston.”
Abul, from Seaford Park Primary School, wrote: “Ban graffiti now!!! Graffiti is horrible. Nobody likes our beautiful city getting wrecked by people tagging our city. The only works that should be done by everyone is street art which I love. Tagging is not cool. I honestly think people do it to look tough. Well, they’re not.”
Jemma, from Seaford Primary School, wrote: “I dislike the fact that people vandalize other people’s property. I also think that it’s a horrendous way to express yourself. Graffiti makes me feel less secure, because it takes away the friendly environment. To me, street art can be beautiful, but they must first have permission from the owner.”
The second part of the initiative invited students in grades 6-8 to produce creative street art. The winning pieces, which are on display in Wells Lane, were created by Mikayla Bailey and Montana Veness, from Rowellyn Park Primary School; Olivia Cornwall and Caitlin Ridgway (Ballam Park Primary School); Elizabeth Carvosso and Lily-Rose Frank (Kananook Primary School); Mya Ellingsen and Matthew Hodson (Monterey Secondary College); Liam Knott (Carrum Downs Secondary College); and Jordan Jenkins and Daron Lewis-Williams (McClelland College).
Graffiti removal cost the council about $500,000 in the 2014-15 financial year, and Mayor James Dooley said educating students on the differences between vandalism and creative street art was an important step in the fight against the scourge.
The street art component aimed to “promote and encourage students’ creative skills while educating them on the consequences associated with committing illegal graffiti”, Cr Dooley said, while the writing competition emphasised “the dislike towards this type of vandalism and the sentiment that graffiti is not accepted by the youth within our community”.
“It is great to see that these students are taking illegal graffiti seriously.”
The Department of Justice and Regulation put up $25,000 for the art competition, while Melissa and Bridgette, from Melbourne Murals, shared their artistic talents with the students.