Tagging is against the law
It makes people angry or afraid
Tagging is expensive to fix

Tagging isn’t a new thing. It’s also known as graffiti, which means to illegally draw or paint on a public surface, and it has actually been around for thousands of years; since the ancient civilizations of Greece and the roman empire. In ancient Greece and Rome, they didn’t have spraypaint or felt pens, so they had to scratch their messages on the wall.

Graffiti comes from the old Italian word ‘Graffito’ Meaning ‘To scratch’.

The diference between grafitti and grafitti 'art' is one thing 'PERMISSION' . When you don't have permission to write or paint on someone's wall or property it's a crime.

Tagging and illegal because graffiti ‘affects’ people. It makes them feel hurt, threatened and sometimes angry when something that belongs to them is damaged or marked in some way. Even marking public property, like walls or scratching your name on a tree affects people.

Remember that Tagging, graffiti and vandalism all have a consequence. Everything that gets broken, like windows, or bus shelters, has to be repaired, and that comes out of money that belongs to everyone, that could be spent on much cooler things like public pools, parks & skateboard parks.

If you are interested in grafiiti art remember you can take courses in graphic design and art at school, and at institutes like polytech when you’re older. You can try it yourself too, at school or at home - on your computer or on paper, maybe even chalk on your driveway. Just remember, wherever you do it, you need to get PERMISSION first.

As a family, you can do something positive to stop vandalism and tagging. To start with, clean it up as SOON as you see it on your property. Some parents form a community group with thier neighbours, and work together to get rid of any tagging or property damage in their area.
See your council for details on how you can help your community.  Auckland City Council has a team that will provide paint and equipment for you to paint out the graffiti and you'll become an 'Anti-Tagging Deputy'.

Did you know?

Graffiti can be art, drawing or words.

There’s an inscription outside a house in Pompeii that was written 1700 years ago. It reads ‘Cave Canem’.(Beware of the Dog)

The eruption of Mt Vesuvius in preserved graffiti carved on the walls of Pompeii, in AD79.

Some cities in the world have such a problem with grafitti that they build special walls for grafitti artists to use in their towns.

Graffiti is sometimes called vandalism. Being a 'vandal' means that you wreck or destroy something without a reason or permission.

The word Vandal comes from the name of a german tribe of people who around 485AD destroyed Rome.

Around 485 AD, when the Roman Empire had grown weak a warlike tribe of people called 'Vandals' came out of Germany and swept into the city of Rome. The Vandals invaded the city,stole lots of stuff and caused a lot of damage.

Rome was once the greatest city in the world, so from then on to be a vandal meant to destroy something without reason

Tagging is costing the Auckland area alone over 5 million dollars a year. Just think how many swimming pools, parks and skateboards ramps that money could be spend on.