How to confront vandals, by Justin's mom
How should you react when witnessing an act of deliberate vandalism?
To an Englishman, there is an overwhelming risk of humiliation involved in confronting a perpetrator, but I'm a father now and I'm starting to realise I need to set a better example.
A friend of mine in the US recently posted on Facebook that she'd witnessed an act born more of ignorance than malice and took the time to explain to the child why what they were doing was wrong. This prompted one of her friends to respond with a comment that has been going around and around in my head for the past two months:
"When we were young, our parents took us to Springfield to see where Lincoln lived and worked. We were walking across a white covered bridge near Lincoln's home, and came across a couple preteens carving their names into the bridge. My mom stopped, stood right next to them, pointed to them, and said to us, "Kids, this is an example of vandalism. Vandalism is destruction of something all can see and enjoy for no reason. Never do this. This is an example of being a lousy citizen."'
Simple, eloquent, dignified.
Justin's mom is my new hero.
