Actually children require more than simply the time and attention of their parents. They need parents to instruct them on why obedience to law and respect for others’ property is right. But who is to say what is right? It is not simply some humans. It is our Creator, Almighty God, and he tells us what is right in his Word, the Bible.

Parents who rear their children with love and respect for their Creator and his righteous requirements find that among their offspring the rising tide of vandalism can effectively be stemmed.

What Is Behind It?

Many explanations have been given. “All crime is up, everywhere, and this is just a part of it,” said a Chicago transit authority official.

“Vandalism and Violence,” a special report developed by the staff of Education U.S.A., points to improper instruction and adult behavior as contributing factors: “The Boston Tea Party is often held up to students as a ‘patriotic act,’ a sort of punishment for the British in retaliation for an onerous tea tax. Yet what happened was pure vandalism perpetrated by grown men.”

When taken together, the various reasons given seem to indicate that vandalism is often a protest. Stanford University Professor Philip G. Zimbardo explains: “Vandalism is rebellion with a cause.” The cause, he says, is “social indifference, apathy, the loss of community, neighborhood and family values.”

It is true that practically everywhere young ones see loss of values​—lying, cheating and hypocrisy are rampant, even among world leaders. This breeds hostility in youngsters against ‘the establishment,’ and vandalism is one way they vent their feelings.

Also, parents contribute to vandalism. Judge John Forte of Concord, Massachusetts, indicates how: “You look at kids sitting by their parents, awaiting trial in our new courtroom. They’re whittling their initials on the benches while their parents look on, unconcerned. The unhappy kids have parents who care too little to notice what they’re doing, much less instruct them.”

Indifferent, uncaring parents are perhaps the main cause of vandalism. And this abdication of responsibility by parents is noted in practically every community. As a result, rich, poor, middle class, and both black and white youngsters are all deeply involved in vandalism. A study of more than 3,100 teen-agers from “every major segment of the Illinois adolescent population” revealed that nearly one in every three had engaged in property destruction!