Tuesday 23 December 2008

New way of tackling graffiti

Thanet district Council press release

A new way of tackling graffiti is being taken into secondary schools and colleges in Thanet by the Thanet Community Safety Partnership.

A Community Safety Officer has been visiting schools to highlight the penalties for criminal damage and to promote the other activities that are available to young people.

This has led to a community project by students at King Ethelbert School in Birchington, who are looking at how they can get across the voice of today’s young people as part of their GCSE Citizenship course.

Joseph Andrews, Shipona Akthar and Jade Duggan, all aged 15, volunteered and worked with Street Art Studio, a local art group, to complete a mural which promotes the message “look beyond the image… see the real person”.

Other students came up with the design, which shows a person in a hooded top on one side of the mural, while the other side shows the person underneath the hoodie, an ordinary young person. They also completed a survey about the perceptions of young people.

Jospeh said: “We wanted to show that you can’t judge a book by its cover. The idea behind the design is to get the message out that you shouldn’t stereotype young people. Just because we wear hoodies doesn’t mean we cause trouble.”

Community Safety Officer Jessica Bailey said: “We want to get the message across that young people care about the community. From the work we’ve done with young people, it’s become very apparent that far from what is often perceived, that young people aren’t interested in their community, many have exactly the same concerns as older generations. They’re also worried about anti-social behaviour and community safety, as well as being frustrated that perceptions of young people are sometimes negative.''

It is hoped that the art work can be exhibited in the new year.

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