Senior Kira Kirk, whose white Camry received a box around the driver’s side of the windshield with an arrow attached to the word “slut,” was one of the victim’s. She said she does not believe the person intended this act to harm the vehicles or the owners of the cars and, she said, she does not intend to make a complaint.
“It was my friend, it wasn’t a big deal,” Kirk said, “it wasn’t a random person and … it wasn’t like a personal thing … it’s kind of like a joke between friends.”
Dr. Tim Baker, assistant principal, said punishment for an act such as this depends on the circumstance.
“There’s obviously repercussions,” Baker said, “but … there’s no textbook for what repercussions there are. Typically it could be anywhere from restitution up to suspension.”
Another person who left school to find his car had writing on it was senior Riley Johnson. He agrees that this is not a serious assault. In Johnson’s case the vandal wrote “I ‘heart’ peanut butter,” which, Johnson noted, is a true statement.
In addition to the writing on his own truck, Johnson saw an SUV that sported “Swaggin wagon” across its side; Johnson said he found the notes to be funny. Even though some of these window messages consist of friendly remarks, the notes containing vulgar language bring forth negative outcomes.
“The bad part when people tag your car is that you have to wash it off and that you have to drive around with inappropriate things on your car,” Kirk said. “You don’t know who’s going to drive by you and see it, and you don’t know what their reaction’s gonna be.”
This is the first prank pulled on Kirk’s car this year, she said, but another incident occurred during her junior year.
“Someone wrote with wax on my window,” Kirk said,” and I had to get paint thinner and spend a good 30 minutes getting it off.”
In today’s event, in order to avoid driving with brash language in public view, Kirk washed her windshield with wiper fluid and drove with her driver side window rolled down. The marker used to decorate the vehicles washed away easily.
“To me [this is] more bullying and harassment than it is vandalism,” Baker said. “That’s pretty easily fixable, and there’s no real damage done.”
Baker said all students who come to administrators to talk about what happened will remain anonymous and the administrators will handle the complaints.
“[This happens often] whenever teenagers get bored basically,” Kirk said. “It’s kind of like a joke between friends; it just was more public … which isn’t OK, but it’s not as bad as it could be.”
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By Emily Franke
Was your vehicle one that was vandalized? Did you find it amusing or gratuitous?
