Need for Self Expression at a High: Vandalism is Growing in Popularity

Each morning, students are greeted by the word "B**BS" spray painted in bright red on the utility shed next to the student parking lot entrance. The crude welcome was finally covered up around halfway through the first semester of this year after having been there as long as most Seniors can remember. However, vandalism around East continues, with slurs written on cars, and everything from allegations to "jokes" about vaping and self harm on bathroom stalls. 

Vandalism is “destroying, injuring, defacing, or damaging property” (US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute) and in its worst form is a hate crime. Hate speech is not something of the past, it manifests cross-culturally, in all countries, and in different institutions, but it is never acceptable. In October, a slur was written on a East Senior’s car. This occurred multiple times and the student was unable to find out who wrote the word due to a lack of security.

Another place where vandalism regularly happens is in the bathroom. Vulgar jokes, conversations between students, inappropriate drawings, allegations, and worse appear in bathroom stalls during class, passing period, and after school. The bathrooms at East are heavily monitored, but this monitoring does not reach inside of the actual stalls, and they are the only student-exclusive space.

Senior Audrey Goodman reminisces on the most outrageous vandalism she has seen at East, she says, “One time I went into the bathroom and there was a table drawn onto the stall that was like ‘Why are you in here? And the options were ‘Geek, Phone, Pee, Poo’. Then, in the dance room everyone throws tampons onto the ceiling.”

In light of recent world events, political unrest has also increased significantly. In regards to our current federal government and politics, according to Pew Research Center, “49% [of Americans] say they feel frustrated. Another 26% say they are angry”. Lots of people are frustrated with different controversies and issues and are not sure where to turn. Ryan Grube explains how he understands why people vandalize when they are upset about something, “Recently I saw a post of a summary of what ICE is really doing and the reality of peoples situations and it just made me really mad. I really wanted to put it out there and demonstrate that people do not support ice. The first thing I thought of was vandalism.” 

As President of the 2026 Senior Class, Grube divulges that he would never actually vandalize, but the urge and push is there. “I see vandalism on the outdoor tables, people write all over cars in the lot, and also things just get destroyed. This kid one year lit a paper towel dispenser on fire and everyone had to evacuate. It seems like people, and especially high schoolers, just really like to destroy property.”

A need for self expression is clearly at an all time high and rumors of different writing or vandalism circulate throughout each school day. One idea about these small bouts of frustration is called the broken windows theory. The theory is that preventing small crimes like vandalism or loitering, for example, can lead to less serious crime occurring. However this works differently in individual settings and can quickly become excessive if left unchecked. Whether or not these small issues lead to bigger issues, we do know one thing. East has an array of outlets other than the walls, stalls, and cars that most people have been going to work on. Art, writing, conversations, and other creative forums are much more constructive escapes to turn to in our current day.