THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY. “Public Service.” MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1945. VANDALISM

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 54, Issue 32622, 17 September 1945, Page 4

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY. “Public Service.” MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1945. VANDALISM

War is an unsettling time, especially for youth, and an aftermath of the abnormal conditions of the past five years is widespread vandalism. Parliament’s' awareness of this, as evidenced in discussion, suggests that the legislation promised and the efforts to educate youngpeople in the duties of citizenship will be comprehensive. Certainly they will have the approval and co-operation of the general public which at times has been deeply disturbed by acts of senseless destructiveness.

To increase the severity of punishment is not reaching to the roots of vandalism. Youths and others who obtain a warped psychological pleasure out of smashing windows, uprooting shrubs’, breaking road signs and even cutting life-saving lines, obviously have no appreciation of the community spirit or pride in beauty and order. They are showing the first symptoms l of a grudge against society, which the trained psychologist, the school teacher and the community worker all agree should be watched for and at once combatted in youth. The war has given full opportunity for ingenious and appealing publicity in the patriotic interest; similar method to educate youth against irresponsible vandalism, to emphasise how each child is a shareholder in a community’s beauty and amenities, should also prove effective. Post-war reconstruction clearly must include such education, and in the meantime the Government’s proposals 1 to combat vandalism will be awaited with keen interest.