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Main >> Previous Updates >> August 2004 >> August 01, 2004 >> Article ID 5925
 Graffiti Lovers Given the Brush-Off | Type: Internet Article |
| | Graffiti Lovers Given the Brush-Off | Aug 01, 2004 |
Summary:
Then there are pop stars such as Christina Aguilera who fill their videos with graffiti images, to convince you they're in touch with the streets.
Read on for the whole article. |
England is in the grip of a multi-million pound graffiti epidemic.
And advertisers, pop stars, art buffs and even environmental groups who think its cool to daub on walls, should bear the brunt of the blame - said Keep Britain Tidy today (Monday 2nd August).
Speaking at the launch of a major report that claimed that councils are shelling out a staggering GBP27 million per year to shift urban scrawl, the Campaign called on society to stop tolerating - and celebrating - graffiti.
"It's impossible to turn on the TV these days without seeing an advert where graffiti is being used to make a product look 'edgy'" said Sue Nelson, Assistant Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy. "Then there are pop stars such as Christina Aguilera who fill their videos with graffiti images, to convince you they're in touch with the streets. While it might look cool from their ivory tower, in the real world, all graffiti does is add to the sense of squalor and makes people feel unsafe."
So insecure in fact, that according to successive surveys(1), the public are more worried about vandalism and graffiti in their area than they are about drunkenness, noise and even drug dealing. This concern is reflected in the Keep Britain Tidy study, which says that 96% of councils dealt with complaints about tags, cartoons and doodles last year. Top graffiti hot spots were subways and train stations - which can give a terrible first impression of any town.
The survey also showed that while 89% of local authorities reckoned graffiti was a problem - over half had no hotline for their residents to report incidents and 53% had no dedicated team set up to shift it. And while 89% of councils said they would remove racist and other offensive scrawl within a day, 60% had never run a campaign or initiative to stop it being put there in the first place.
But while Keep Britain Tidy could sympathise with many councils trying to combat graffiti with limited budgets, they criticised those who have set up so-called, "legitimate graffiti walls" - to allow writers to "express themselves".
Continued Sue Nelson: "Graffiti is crime it's as simple as that and giving someone a wall to write on is like giving a burglar a house full of goods to practice breaking and entering. There is also no evidence to say they reduce graffiti elsewhere and since many are not looked after properly, they become yet another eyesore for communities to endure."
Keep Britain Tidy are backed in their zero tolerance message by a 122 MP's and are confident their call will change some minds. But they also reckon that the only way to stop some hardened graffiti writers is to make sure they are brought to book. Which is why they are backing Government proposals to hand out on the spot fines to offenders and ban the sale of spray paints to teens.
Concluded Sue Nelson: "There is an old motto, which says, "evil thrives when good men do nothing" - and that's exactly what has happened with graffiti, we have allowed this crime to grow and blight our poorest places. For the sake of all those who have had their property damaged by graffiti or who have to view racist messages or slogans naming police informers daubed on their walls, that situation has to change - and fast." |
 Source: www.prnewswire.co.uk | |
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