Graffiti Prevention Education Program

Teaching and learning activities

Objective The learning activities in this unit introduce students to the negative implications of graffiti, including the costs to the community, the environment and individuals.

The activities provide students with knowledge and understanding to develop their:

• understanding of community and how a community or ‘group’ can act against graffiti

• awareness of who is responsible for graffiti, and the consequences and penalties for graffiti offenders

• personal strategies and affirmations to assert their rights and protect the community as good citizens

• ability to understand and use print/screen media to address social issues and reinforce the voice of the lobby ‘group’.

Activity description

Students research, plan and produce a digital story as a persuasive text that addresses graffiti with a view to educating a primary school audience to recognise graffiti as antisocial behaviour and report it to the authorities.

Inquiry questions

• Is graffiti a socially accepted activity? • What is the cost of graffiti to the community?

This teaching strategy has been designed using the Phrases of inquiry framework from Kath Murdoch: http://www.kathmurdoch.com.au/fileadmin/_migrated/content_uploads/phasesofinquiry.pdf.

Guiding questions 1. How will the study allow students to reflect on their own values, beliefs and opinions of the topic?

2. Are there places where connections can be made to larger social or environmental issues?

3. Are there opportunities for students to enact a solution or action plan about the issue?

This teaching strategy has been designed from the 5Es inquiry framework. The following resources have more information about the framework.

• E5 instructional model

education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/support/pages/e5.aspx

• Enhancing education: The 5Es enhancinged.wgbh.org/research/eeeee.html

• Introduction to inquiry based learning by Neil Stephenson teachinquiry.com/index/Introduction.html

We all pay for graffiti: Years 5–6

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Graffiti Prevention Education Program

Background information

What is graffiti? Graffiti is the unauthorised act of marking other people’s property without their permission. It is illegal, ugly and expensive to remove. Graffiti affects us all: it can lower property values, make people feel unsafe, reduce business patronage and encourage other types of crime.

Graffiti is a crime

Graffiti is illegal in Australia. It is a persistent problem that attracts a variety of penalties. In Queensland, graffiti is a crime under the Queensland Criminal Code Act 1899 s. 469 Wilful damage, which states:

Any person who wilfully and unlawfully destroys or damages any property is guilty of an offence…

If the property in question is in a public place, or is visible from a public place, and the destruction or damage is caused by (a) spraying, writing, drawing, marking or otherwise applying paint or another marking substance; or (b) scratching or etching; the offender commits a crime and is liable to imprisonment for 7 years…

The court may… order the offender to perform community service… including for example, removing graffiti from property; and … may order the offender to pay compensation to any person.

Consequences Graffiti offences are treated seriously by police, all levels of government and the justice system. Juvenile offenders (aged 12–17 years) may be sentenced to a term in a detention centre, given a graffiti removal order or given a period of probation (Note: a person aged 17 or over is tried as an adult). Regardless of the penalty imposed by a court, a graffiti offender may be ordered to remove the graffiti and/or pay compensation to the owner of the property that was vandalised.

Where does graffiti occur? Most graffiti occurs on exposed walls and fences and is usually in the form of messages in letters or images written in spray paint, permanent marker or etched into a surface with a sharp instrument. Graffiti vandals have no respect for private or community property and no regard for the negative impacts of their actions. Their aim is usually to impress their peers and strengthen their reputations by putting their graffiti tags in as many places as possible.

Graffiti removal Graffiti that is left intact attracts more graffiti. The longer it remains, the greater the gratification for perpetrators. It also suggests that the community does not care or is unable to deal with the problem. Keeping neighbourhoods graffiti free reinforces pride in the city and helps to maintain feelings of safety and wellbeing for everyone in the community.

The best way to reduce graffiti is to remove it as quickly as possible. Local governments, businesses, organisations and volunteers commit money and resources to remove graffiti and participate in various graffiti prevention strategies.

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Graffiti Prevention Education Program

City of Gold Coast graffiti prevention program The City of Gold Coast (the City) spends approximately $1.3 million every year on graffiti removal and manages a range of graffiti prevention strategies. Our Graffiti Removal Team responds to an average of 10,000 graffiti removal requests each year, removing graffiti from public assets and some private property. We also provide free graffiti removal kits and support volunteer graffiti removal programs.

The City’s graffiti prevention program includes:

• education within schools about graffiti and its consequences

• identifying graffiti hotspots and installing closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras to catch graffiti offenders

• encouraging property owners to design and create spaces that are less attractive to graffiti vandals

• working with retailers of paint products

• facilitating public art graffiti prevention projects

• supporting community service graffiti removal programs

• working with police and other agencies on crime prevention programs.

You can report graffiti for removal by using the City of Gold Coast mobile app, calling the Graffiti Hotline on 07 5581 7998 or emailing: graffiti@goldcoast.qld.gov.au.

Reporting graffiti offenders to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or Policelink on 131 444 is also encouraged.

Media Television, film and video are commonly used to highlight, educate and motivate people to adopt new behaviours or change entrenched ones — including antisocial behaviours such as littering or illegal downloading. The combination of moving images, text and sound delivers memorable and engaging messages targeting specific audiences and intentions.

The City of Gold Coast video Graffiti — Let’s stay on top of it illustrates how issues such as graffiti can be addressed through film.

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Graffiti Prevention Education Program

Teaching strategy Tuning in 1. View film clip

As a class, view the film clip Graffiti — Let’s stay on top of it from cityofgoldcoast.com.au/graffiti.

2. Message of the film Discuss the messages of the film and list these for students to consider. The messages conveyed indicate that graffiti is not socially acceptable because it is illegal and obstructs the rights of individuals to live in a safe and environmentally sound community.

3. Questions to consider Pose the inquiry questions to the class:

• Is graffiti a socially accepted activity?

• What is the cost of graffiti to the community?

4. Analyse the film Divide the class into three sections: Knowledge, Skills and Understanding. Each section should analyse the video to answer the questions below.

• Knowledge: What information did the filmmakers convey through the video clip that would focus on the inquiry questions above?

• Skills: How was the video clip constructed? What technical aspects of filmmaking were evident? For example, types of camera shots (close up, wide angle), music/sound, introductory titles, closing credits, locations.

• Understanding: How was the message delivered? For example, use of symbols, interviews with experts, action and pace of action, sound, links, camera shots, pitch to audience.

Ask each group to provide feedback to the whole class on what they recorded about the film.

Finding out 5. The factsheet

Have students read the Graffiti factsheet provided below. This information provides more facts that the students can use in their task. They should either summarise the information or highlight the ‘facts’. Additionally, students could search the City of Gold Coast website for additional information about how the City deals with graffiti. They should focus on ‘who’ commits graffiti and ‘why’.

6. Ways to deal with graffiti Organise students into the three groups as per the above activity. As a group, students discuss the issues and select one aspect they want to promote as a way to deal with the graffiti problem. Discuss with the students that as a group they have a community voice to act against socially unacceptable activity.

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Graffiti Prevention Education Program

7. Protecting the environment Provide students with examples of how groups of people can protect the environment and make significant changes to their communities. For example:

• National Portrait Gallery, Portrait stories: Bob Brown and the fight to save the Franklin River, Tasmania portrait.gov.au/site/Bob_Brown.php

• World Wildlife Foundation: Change the way you think wwf.org.au/what_you_can_do/change_the_way_you_live/sustainable_living/

As a class, reflect on not only the message of the film clips, but also on how the message is delivered to the audience (look at the use of actors, dialogue, music, camera angles and visual effects.

8. What is persuasive media? Discuss how language and screen media are vehicles for ‘persuasion’. Recognise that every time you speak or respond, you are practising the art of persuasion. Have students identify some common forms of ‘persuasive media’ in their community, e.g. newspapers, flyers, billboards, radio, internet, YouTube, TV, magazine advertising, signs, Twitter.

9. How does persuasive media work? In their three groups, ask students to select one of the topics below and develop a list of ways persuasion is conveyed through:

• print media

• screen media

• physical attributes (people and environment).

Ask each group to provide feedback to the class about their ideas and have the rest of the class contribute to the list.

10. Five forms of persuasion Ask the class to vote on which five forms of persuasion they feel are the most potent (see step 8 for examples) and put them in order from the most persuasive to the least persuasive. Collate the responses and list the class tally for each. The tally should include television advertising and recommendations from friends. Together, these modes of persuasion are very potent in changing opinions, cultures and behaviours.

11. Examples of digital stories As a class, view examples of digital stories (short films), for example:

• TropFest Jr /tropfest.com/tropjr/

• Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Screen It competition acmi.net.au/screenit_gallery.htm

Discuss the three types of text genre: narrative, informational and persuasive. List the different types of film genres, such as documentary, comedy, live action, news reports, romance, wildlife, sports, infomercials, etc.

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Graffiti Prevention Education Program

Sorting out 12. Examine a film

Select a persuasive film, either from the below examples or choose your own:

• Please help the world — Copenhagen Climate Change Conference 2009 opening film (4 minutes) youtube.com/watch?v=NVGGgncVq-4

• UNICEF: What are child rights? (3 minutes) unicef.org.au/discover/Educational-Resources.aspx

• Graffiti — Let’s stay on top of it (3 minutes) cityofgoldcoast.com.au/graffiti

Examine the codes and conventions used in the film, including:

• the information needed to educate the audience

• the production skills needed to produce the infomercial

• the creative ideas on how to engage with the audience so that the students understand the message and will act upon it.

Focus on how the film uses particular devices to attract the audience: language, location, sound, text, interviews with experts (testimonials), scientific facts, amazing results, attractive presenters, etc.

13. Storyboard Plot the film on a storyboard. Look at the film in 30–60 seconds sections. You can then look at the film frame by frame and analyse how the film’s structure is put together. Develop a shooting script (which shows how the film is shot) to realise how little is said and if particular words are repeated. Analyse costume, location and sets/props that provide more information for the viewer than just the words and filming. Document camera shots and what conventions are used to provide information visually.

Going further 14. Create your own film

Divide the class into pairs. Each pair is to produce a 30–60 second digital story (film) about the effects of antisocial behaviour in their community. They can choose a topic from the list below:

• Graffiti — including specific types of graffiti, such as tagging or ‘scratchitti’, or sites where graffiti is common or problematic, such as buses or in school

• Littering or illegal dumping • Riding or skateboarding without helmets • Hoon driving

The Student activity worksheet: We all pay for graffiti at the end of this document provides some guiding questions and can be used to record key facts to represent in the digital stories.

The pair should produce a storyboard of 10–30 frames that illustrates how they will produce their film. Each frame should include its action, dialogue, staging directions, and FX (effects used by the camera/media crew). A storyboard template is included on the Student activity worksheet: We all pay for graffiti — Digital media scene selection.

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Graffiti Prevention Education Program

Applying

15. Producing their film Each group is responsible for producing their 30–60 second film. The production can be made with available technologies, for example:

• mobile phone filming

• still photography loaded onto a PowerPoint with voice-over narrative

• animation

• dramatisation in front of the class (filmed).

The objective is for students to understand the message they want to give, adapt the production to suit the audience, and learn about film production as a persuasive text.

16. View and write a review Display each of the films and have each class member write a review as a film critique.

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Australian Curriculum links Learning areas Strand Content descriptions

Civics and citizenship

Citizenship, diversity and identity

Year 5 Why people work in groups to achieve their aims, and how they can express their shared beliefs and values and exercise influence (ACHCK027)

Year 6 Who can be an Australian citizen, the formal rights and responsibilities, and shared values of Australian citizenship (ACHCK038)

Optional cross-curriculum link: The Arts: Media arts

Cross-curriculum priorities

Sustainability Futures OI.7 Actions for a more sustainable future reflect values of care, respect and responsibility, and require us to explore and understand environments.

General capabilities Element Sub-element

Literacy

Comprehending texts through listening, reading and viewing Listen and respond to learning area text

Composing texts through speaking, writing and creating Use language to interact with others

Grammar knowledge Express opinion and point of view

Visual knowledge Understand how visual elements create meaning

Information Communication Technology (ICT) capability

Investigating with ICTs

Define and plan information searches Select and evaluate data and information

Locate, generate and access data and information

Creating with ICTs Generate solutions to challenges and learning area tasks

Critical and creative thinking

Inquiring — identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas Pose questions

Generate ideas, possibilities and actions Imagine possibilities and connect ideas

Ethical understanding Explore values, rights and responsibilities

Explore rights and responsibilities Examine values Consider points of view

Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website in March 2014. CC-BY-SA

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Resources

• Graffiti Prevention Education Program PowerPoint — Upper primary • Kath Murdoch: Phases of inquiry

http://www.kathmurdoch.com.au/fileadmin/_migrated/content_uploads/phasesofinquiry.pdf • Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA): Graphic organisers

education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/support/pages/graphicorganisers.aspx • Australian Institute of Criminology: Key issues in graffiti

aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/rip/1-10/06.html

City of Gold Coast graffiti prevention resources

• Graffiti prevention information cityofgoldcoast.com.au/graffiti

• Video clip: Graffiti — Let’s stay on top of it cityofgoldcoast.com.au/graffiti

• Introducing Pat the Painter mypolice.qld.gov.au/goldcoast/2012/11/28/introducing-pat-the-painter/

• Graffiti Let’s stay on top of it: A factsheet for the QPS http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/documents/bf/graffiti-fact-sheet-reporting.pdf

Extra resources

• Gold Coast Community Guide cityofgoldcoast.com.au/gold-coast-community-guide-4378.html

• Gold Coast voluntary groups cityofgoldcoast.com.au/communityconcerns

• City of Gold Coast: BeachCare cityofgoldcoast.com.au/education

• City of Gold Coast: Land for Wildlife cityofgoldcoast.com.au/education

• Keep Queensland Beautiful kabq.org.au/new-look

YouTube clips

• United Nations: Act now, save later — Social media campaign to boost disaster funding youtube.com/watch?v=P1UmHS9kJgc

• Clean Up Australia Day 2012 youtube.com/watch?v=BP4mfNpgoAc

• TropFest Jr /tropfest.com/tropjr/

• Australian Centre for the Moving Image: Screen It competition acmi.net.au/screenit_gallery.htm

• Please help the world — Copenhagen Climate Change Conference 2009 opening film (4 minutes) youtube.com/watch?v=NVGGgncVq-4

• UNICEF: What are child rights? unicef.org.au/discover/Educational-Resources.aspx (3 minutes)

(URLs active as of February 2014)

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Graffiti Prevention Education Program

What is graffiti? Graffiti is the unauthorised act of marking other people’s property without their permission. It is illegal, ugly and expensive to remove. Graffiti affects us all, it can lower property values, make people feel unsafe, reduce business patronage and encourage other types of crime.

Where does graffiti occur? Most graffiti occurs on exposed walls and fences and is usually in the form of messages in letters or images, written in spray paint, permanent marker or etched into a surface with a sharp instrument. Graffiti vandals have no respect for private or community property and no regard for the negative impacts of their actions. Their aim is usually to impress their peers and strengthen their reputations, by putting their graffiti tags in as many places as possible.

Graffiti is a crime Graffiti is illegal in Australia. It is a persistent problem that attracts a variety of penalties. In Queensland, graffiti is a crime under the Queensland Criminal Code Act 1899 s469 “Wilful Damage” Any person who wilfully and unlawfully destroys or damages any property is guilty of an offence.

(1) If the property in question is in a public place, or is visible from a public place, and the destruction or damage is caused by (a) spraying, writing, drawing, marking or otherwise applying paint or another marking substance; or (b) scratching or etching; the offender commits a crime and is liable to imprisonment for 7 years. (3) The court may order the offender to perform community service, including for example, removing graffiti from property; and/or may order the offender to pay compensation to any person.

Consequences Graffiti offences are treated seriously by Police, all levels of government and the justice system. Juvenile offenders (aged 12-17 years) may be sentenced to a term in a detention centre, given a graffiti removal order or given a period of probation (note: a person aged 17 or over is tried as an adult). Regardless of the penalty imposed by a court, a graffiti offender may be ordered to remove the graffiti and/or pay compensation to the owner of the property that was vandalised.

In Queensland graffiti is a crime under the Queensland Criminal Code Act 1899 s469 “Wilful Damage”

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Graffiti Prevention Education Program

Graffiti removal Graffiti that is left intact attracts more graffiti. The longer it remains the greater the gratification for perpetrators. It also suggests that the community does not care or is unable to deal with the problem. Keeping neighbourhoods graffiti free reinforces pride in the city and helps to maintain feelings of safety and well-being for everyone in the community. The best way to reduce graffiti is to remove it as quickly as possible. Local governments, businesses, organisations and volunteers commit money and resources to graffiti removal and participate in various graffiti prevention strategies.

© Copyright, Council of the City of Gold Coast (Council) 2001-2014 Photographer: Sam Lindsay

City of Gold Coast graffiti prevention program The City of Gold Coast (the City) spends approximately $1.3 million every year on graffiti removal and manages a range of graffiti prevention strategies. Our Graffiti Removal Team responds to an average of 10,000 graffiti removal requests each year, removing graffiti from public assets and some private property. We also provide free graffiti removal kits and supports volunteer graffiti removal programs.

The City’s graffiti prevention program includes:

• education within schools about graffiti and its consequences

• identifying graffiti hotspots and installing close-circuit television (CCTV) cameras to catch graffiti offenders

• encouraging property owners to design and create spaces that are less attractive to graffiti vandals (CPTED)

• working with retailers of paint products

• facilitating public art graffiti prevention projects

• supporting community service graffiti removal programs

• working with police and other agencies on crime prevention programs.

You can report graffiti for removal: A City of Gold Coast mobile app P 07 5581 7998 (Graffiti Hotline) E graffiti@goldcoast.qld.gov.au

Reporting graffiti offenders to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or Policelink on 131 444 is also encouraged.

Graffiti Prevention Mural by Libby Harward © Copyright, Council of the City of Gold Coast (Council) 2001-2014 Photographer: Sam Lindsay

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Graffiti Prevention Education Program

Student activity worksheet: We all pay for graffiti Digital media research View a short film and describe how digital media uses the following techniques to capture the interest of the target audience.

Camera shots (long, medium, close up)

Music and sound

Colour

Lighting

Editing

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Graffiti Prevention Education Program

Student activity worksheet: We all pay for graffiti Digital media research Choose a topic of interest (such as graffiti) and research to gather information about the topic.

Topic of interest

Characteristics of offenders

Impacts (social, economic, other)

Reduction initiatives

Develop a 30–60 second digital story (infomercial) about the effects of your topic on your community.

Key points for a digital media production

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Student activity worksheet: We all pay for graffiti Digital media scence selection

Produce a storyboard of 15–30 frames using the templates below to illustrate how you will produce your digital story. Each aspect of the filming should be supported with script and staging directions.

Production title:

Scene # Scene # Scene #

Action

Action Action

Dialogue Dialogue Dialogue FX FX FX

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Graffiti Prevention Education Program

Scene # Scene # Scene #

Action

Action Action

Dialogue Dialogue Dialogue FX FX FX

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