Whether you are taking a stroll in the neighbourhood, or commuting to school, what you see along the way helps to shape your ideas about that specific location. A run down car, a crooked sign, or even a vacant coffee shop is a tell-tale sign of a change or event that has taken place within an area. Many times, even a mural on a street wall can reflect what is important to the people who live there. In many neighbourhoods, graffiti is one of those aspects that tells a story about a particular community – whether it be positive or negative.

On my commute to the local bakery in my neighbourhood, I often pass by a school called St. Francis Xavier. I had never paid much attention before, but on my most recent trip, I noticed a piece of graffiti on the school wall. It read, “I WAS ONCE INNOCENT.” I immediately felt a disturbing feeling come over me. This feeling was brought on not only because of what was written, but the way in which it was written – using capital letters and on its own in the middle of the wall. The capital letters stood out to me because its almost as if the artist was trying to scream their message.

Although graffiti is usually understood as a work of art, I did not have this same interpretation when I read the phrase that was written. In class, we addressed the fact that graffiti has to enhance and be aesthetically pleasing to stay up (Class, Wednesday October 28, 2015). With this in mind, I strongly feel that the piece of graffiti should be removed from the school wall. The circumstances surrounding the graffiti have a negative impact upon the students, parents, and staff that attend the school, as well as the community that surrounds it. The context of the graffiti and the circumstances revolving around why it may have been written can provide insight as to why it would affect the community negatively.

Prior to addressing the factors that determine why I believe the graffiti should be removed, I would like to discuss the space in which the graffiti is situated. The graffiti was found on a school wall located in the Keele and Lawrence area. More specifically, St. Francis Xavier Catholic School is located on Gracefield Avenue. The area is known as an upper-middle class neighbourhood, with mostly Italian residents surrounding.

This elementary school is a Catholic school, which practices Catholicism, along with its values. The phrase “I WAS ONCE INNOCENT,” can be understood as offensive to the Catholic beliefs of the school. In a sense, it could be as if the person or people who spray-painted the graffiti on the wall are trying to relay the message that the Catholic ideals of the school are not being upheld. The way I understood the message, was that a former student, or a student who is presently attending the school wrote it. Through the student(s)’s experience, they may have felt as though their innocence was diminished or lost because of something that took place within the school. For example, they might have been bullied or were a bully, and underwent a traumatic experience as a result of this. In addition, I also feel that the graffiti should be removed because the language in the message almost mocks the innocence of children that attend the school. All children are innocent, but this message is taking away from that idea.

I also think the graffiti should be taken down because it promotes vandalism on school property. A school is an area that usually should be clean. Therefore, by allowing this graffiti to remain on the wall, it promotes the idea that future students or outsiders who wish to vandalize can do so. I found it interesting to note that all the other schools in the area that had graffiti on the walls put spray-paint over it to make it illegible. “With predictable regularity, researchers are asked to justify the presence of the worst instances of vandalism and intolerance – the tag on a shop window, the racist insult on a schoolyard wall. And with similar predictability we reply, ‘it’s more complex than that’” (McAuliffe and Iveson 129). In other words, a piece of graffiti can tell a detailed story about the public space it is in – the area, the people, the community, etc.

I believe that the most important reason for wanting this graffiti to be removed is because it can create a highly unsafe space. Since the school is attached to a park, parents often allow their kids to stay after school and play. However, this message written on the wall might influence parents to be hesitant about allowing their kids to play at the park. Also, the fact that the graffiti is present might indicate that outsiders are hanging out in the area after hours, which also influences why the space might be perceived as unsafe. The image of the school becomes tainted because its almost as if the school has suffered an intrusion – this makes the space more public than private. “Public space engenders fears, fears that derive from the sense of public space as uncontrolled space, as a space in which civilization is exceptionally fragile” (Dom Mitchell, 1 ). A person or a group of people have left their unwanted mark on the wall of the school. In turn, students and/or parents might not want to attend the school any longer.

In conclusion, this blog has discussed the reasons for why I believe that the graffiti on St. Francis Xavier Catholic School should be removed. Following my interpretation of the graffiti, I believe that the message was written with a negative objective, it promotes the idea that vandalism is acceptable, and most importantly, makes the now public space of the school feel quite unsafe. Despite the discussion of this graffiti in particular, not all graffiti has a negative tone to it. In fact, graffiti is often seen as a work of art, and can have quite the opposite effect when used in an influential manner.

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