Vandalism Rooted in Deeper Issues

“Vandalism is a product of boredom.”

Rebecca Robertson, town councilor for students should know. “Everyone has an idea who the people doing it are. They don’t want to go home and they don’t have anything else to do. We need more police authority on the streets.” When Tusaayaksat asked a group of students at Samuel Hearne Secondary what their thoughts were on Vandalism, it became an impromptu heated discussion. Everybody had his or her two cents. Crysta Rogers and Starla Shae do not find the vandalism “shocking” or new, and are surprised at the hype surrounding the topic these days. Starla does not feel affected by it. “It’s normal to me because I came from Yellowknife. There’s vandalism everywhere. But I feel bad for the people with property, because they paid for it,” she said. Besides increased policing, students suggested citizen patrol and directly fining the parents of those who vandalize.

Apublic meeting was held in October, and those present from the community, town government, and the youth center brought up similar ideas. It was also suggested that vandalism culprits could be curbed if their actions result in having their names published in the public press. A search through previous news articles suggest that vandalism always spikes when summers turns to fall, when it’s too warm to have to stay inside, but dark enough for the vandals to hide and conceal their acts. Most public buildings and businesses, as well as private vehicles in town have had their brush-ins with vandals.

Youth say the police do stop them on the streets when they are out late. RCMP officer Noella Cockney said, “The vandals are mostly youth and below 18. A lot of them have been sentenced, and others are waiting to go to court. These kids are just individuals crying out for attention and help. As a parent, I let youth know that I trust them until they give me reason to believe otherwise. It seems to work.”

Kurt Wainman feels that “As part of the community, if you get involved, you could get charged with hurting the children.” Youth like

Kenzie MacDonald said there is danger of being hurt by the vandals if they try to intervene. Josh Teddy of Tuktoyaktuk worries that the underlying issues, if unsolved, would “just put more and more young people in jail.”

There were suggestions at the public meeting that the Inuvik Youth Center should be moved, as some think the presence of young people on the main strip of Inuvik allows them to target businesses. Steve Baryluk, a board member of the Youth Center responded, “People are quick to point fingers at the youngsters, but really the kids that are in the youth center, in my mind, are the ones that are typically engaging in healthy activities. Just because they are in groups does not mean they are conspiring on how to bust up everything they can get at.”

“If you move the IYC to an off-location you will lose a lot of its users, and then you will have even more kids hanging out on the streets, because those who were previously inside the center, who will now be hanging around the roads doing nothing,” he said.

“We all like to talk and make comments about this, but where are the innovative ideas that can overcome this problem? Safe communities are healthy communities; parents and the community have to come together to help resolve these negative behavioral patterns,” said Nellie Cournoyea, Chair of IRC.