Graffiti can be good and Bad

I think that graffiti is a good thing and can be really good for society and I think can be considered art and be helpful in communities but I also think that it can be a bad thing and can be bad for society. The reason that I think that graffiti is an art and can be good for society is that some of the artists that make graffiti can be very inspirational and be very helpful and beneficial to society and it can be a very good thing. I also think that it can be a good thing because “In some places, you can’t buy spray paint unless you’re over 18.” (Steve Dolan) I also think that if a graffiti artist isn’t tagging places that are private property and it isn’t hurting anybody and they end up getting caught and “If it wasn’t for the fact that most graffiti is placed on private property without the owner’s permission, then it might be more recognized as a legitimate form of art.” (Steve Dolan) then I think then why they would get in trouble because they are doing something to someone’s property illegally.

One way that I think that graffiti can be bad and is not a good thing is if gangs are tagging public places like banks, schools, restaurants, and others with gang signs then they should be getting in trouble and it is very bad and can be very detrimental and have a negative impact on communities and can make people not happy and not want to go to certain places. Another reason that graffiti is considered to be bad is “The cost for cleanup in the U.S. has not been documented definitively, but it is safe to assume that it is in the billions of dollars. Large cities typically budget more money toward graffiti removal. In 2006, Chicago budgeted $6.5 million while Omaha, Nebraska spends about $100,000 annually” (Graffiti as Vandalism) The cost of cleanup is very expensive for the government and if graffiti and vandalism didn’t happen then the government would be able to put the money that they are spending on cleaning up vandalism and use it to make businesses and public facilities that are run by the government better. Another reason that graffiti is considered to be bad and to be vandalism is that when gangs tag places like subway stations “Vandalism also affects revenue from transportation, as evidenced by the reduction in riders during the 1960s and 1970s. Even before graffiti became associated with gangs, people became afraid of riding the vandalized subways” (‘Graffiti as Art”) When gangs tag subway stations the public is scared to ride on them and they don’t want to because they are scared that gangs have been there. A couple of solutions that I think that people and the government could do is promote or start giving credit to people that go around and they create graffiti by creating inspirational quotes and they create things that are not bad and they make the community and society better and they can get permission by the government to be able to create inspirational quotes and art and be able to get credit as being artists. On the other side of things, I think that people that are part of gangs and create vandalism by tagging public property and defacing it they should get into trouble and be fined for it and if they repeat the same offense then they will look at jail time and harsher punishment.

“Graffiti art in San Francisco” by Ed Yourdon is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.