KESAB delivered preventative graffiti education and awareness funded by the Attorney Generals Crime Prevention Grants Program to participating Educational Institutions in the Adelaide Inner Suburbs.
The program, delivered in May 2017, in Partnership with Warner Youth Education took the form of a live, in-school presentation interfacing with students in secondary years supported with post reinforcement materials.
The presentation educated students on:
- victims of illegal graffiti (business, residential, transit and schools)
- the visual differences of graffiti versus legitimate art (street/urban art)
- the incidences of graffiti, where graffiti occurs, who writes graffiti and why
- the criminal charges for graffiti and the personal, social and economic costs of graffiti.
The program was offered to 9 Educational Institutions which were identified as having adolescents that would benefit from the graffiti and life skills messages.
Multiple year levels participated at most of the Institutions as follows:
- Year 8: 58%
- Year 9: 92%
- Year 10: 50%
- Year 11: 33%
- Year 12: 17%
Take up of the program by the Educational Institutions was very strong, with 100% of the organisations participating in the program and 644 adolescents receiving Respect It! Don’t Wreck It education.
Key teacher metrics were extremely positive:
- 100% of teachers agreed that the presentation included relevant topics and content for their students.
- 100% of teachers agreed that the presentation helped to improve their students’ understanding of the consequences of graffiti crime and anti-social behaviour.
- 83% of teachers believed that the presentation improved their own understanding of graffiti and the impact it can have on the community.
- 100% of teachers agreed that the presentation will assist students to avoid involvement in graffiti crime.
- 83% of teachers believed the presentation needed no improvement.
- 75% of teachers rated the presentation 9 or 10 out of 10.
Respect It, Don’t Wreck It – Graffiti Education Teacher Pack
KESAB environmental solutions, with the support from Warner Youth Education, developed and distributed a preventative graffiti education and awareness project in secondary schools in the following local government areas:
- City of Charles Sturt (5 schools)
- City of Port Adelaide Enfield (7 schools)
The secondary school program was delivered using pre-packaged in-class activities, facilitated by teachers.
The aim of the ‘workshop’ style activities is to extend students’ knowledge about the negative consequences of graffiti, encouraging them to take ownership of the problem and actively participate in creating positive solutions.
To achieve a high level of uptake of the workshops, materials were designed to appeal to teachers and students in an impactful format to deliver ‘cut through’ in a crowded school curriculum; and was easy and flexible to administer.
The video is accompanied by a range of suggested activities which encourage students to explore messages, consider alternatives and positive scenarios, and to think more deeply about the flow on effects graffiti can have within their community. The range of activities is designed to suit different learner types and styles, and can be adapted to be completed individually, in groups or as a whole class.
Teachers provided the following feedback on the resource:
- 100% of teachers strongly or somewhat agreed that the resources pack was informative and teacher friendly.
- 100% of teachers strongly or somewhat agreed that the activities were easy to implement and provided students with strong understanding of desired key messages on the consequences and impacts of graffiti.
- 100% of teachers strongly or somewhat agreed that the resources helped to improve students’ understanding of the consequences of graffiti.