School Vandalism

Once again there has been an incident of school vandalism in Southcentral Alaska. A pair of pre-teen boys claim they were "bored", so they destroyed $150,000 worth of school property, by smashing computers & breaking windows.
Now comes the name calling, where the conservatives blame the liberals, some blame the parents and many blame the kids. I have a different perspective on this situation, because unfortunately this is not the first time I have seen Alaskan kids vandalize a school.

My perspective comes from the simple little fact that schools back East don't get ripped apart by local kids--especially kids that know the school!!! Schools still enjoy some respect by the community and the families that are linked to them.
Yet, in Alaska, certain neighborhoods and parental types seem to think education is a joke. There is quite a bit of mockery regarding higher education, and a large drop out rate. Meanwhile the more affluent families bitch and moan that their taxes should never be raised in order to increase school funding.
This anti-school attitude is pretty easy in a state where the best occupations require little or no education. Nevertheless, even if you have no use for an education, I assume respecting property should come from somewhere.
That is certainly a harder nut to crack, as I have seen all kinds of kids commit vandalism--the rich kids who have no idea that replacing stuff really hurts, and poor angry kids who just like to smash shit. I guess my dog likes to dig a giant hole for no reason at all as well.....

School Spirit in Alaska

One of the most frustrating things about the Alaskan status quo is the disregard for education. Simply put, quite a few good paying jobs here require little if any education. Most Alaskans can afford pretty nice lifestyles by picking up a trade, craft or working in the oil fields. Into this mix throw a healthy dose of illiterate rednecks and you have the perfect formula to mock the educated or any establishment fostering education.
This attitude rears its ugly head every election season. Alaskan voters hate to see their property taxes rise--especially if the money goes to something silly like the school system. Needless to say, many kids attend classes in temporary trailers, programs are cut and I even heard talk of eliminating kindergarten!
Of course when parents don't care about schools, neither do the kids. You could point to something ordinary like drop out rates, but here the problem includes a propensity for vandalism.

I have never lived in a place where children habitually set fire to their schools and school playgrounds. The playgrounds are an especially weird crime--who hates playgrounds? But needless to say, every summer playgrounds and schools all across Alaska are set ablaze. The school system encourages campers to camp in school parking lots to eliminate the carnage, but needless to say--it still happens.