Victims of vandals take a stand
Grade 2 students at Radisson School write letters to local hoods
By Jolie Toews May 8, 2008 |
When Maureen Lyttle’s Grade 2 students arrived at Radisson School on April 28 and saw graffiti on the school walls and play structure, they felt sad, angry and violated.
But instead of expressing themselves through actions — as the vandals did, they chose to channel their emotions through their pencils.
They decided to write letters addressed to the vandals, asking why they did what they did and suggesting possible consequences.
“I thought it was horrible. I thought, ‘Who could have done this?’” Grade 2 student Nicholas Kozak said.
“I thought they should be grounded. No more allowances,” he said.
“We wrote them because they shouldn’t have done it,’cause it’s our property and that we’re learning from them,”classmate Andi Reimer said.
Teacher Lyttle said there was graffiti on the walls, windows, play structure and roof of the school. A window was also smashed but had been boarded up by the time the students arrived.
“They couldn’t believe someone had violated their area. They have such pride for their school,” Lyttle said.
Radisson principal Darlene Lewis said the school’s property gets hit with graffiti on almost a weekly basis, but this incident was the worst she’d seen in her four years at the school.
“There seemed to be symbols, like gang tags, and swear words,” she said.
By that afternoon, maintenance workers had painted over the graffiti and replaced the window.
