Causes of Teen Vandalism

Adolescence can be a trying time of kids acting out and their parents often need to seek the advice of a vandalism attorney. The teenage years, between the ages of thirteen and nineteen, are a hotbed of change and challenges. The average elementary school student is suddenly deluged with hormones, a rapidly changing body, and peer pressure. These years are often plagued with self doubt and shaky confidence as they grow from a child into an adult. Unfortunately this bumpy time can be even more problematic if the teen begins to act out as a vandal.

Vandalism is a crime. It includes any intentional act that destroys or defaces public or private property. Some examples include knocking over mailboxes, spray painting graffiti, trashing school buildings, stealing and damaging cars or mailboxes and lighting fires. While there have been teen pranksters at play for decades, today's brand of prank has more serious ramifications.

Why would adolescents do such things? Some typical reasons include the following:

- Hostility toward their parents or the property owner: A teen may be feeling out of control and angry toward their parents or whoever owns what they are vandalizing. Parents can be the target of these acts because of discipline vendettas, because they're always at work and not emotionally available or because of divorce and domestic problems at home. Property owners may be the local high school or a neighbor who has treated them poorly. The kids' way of getting back some power may unfortunately be to trash property.
- Peer pressure: Sometimes teenagers egg each other on and use extremely poor judgment. The destruction may have occurred when a practical joke or dare got out of hand. There are times when a growing teen fails to think through consequences.
- Drunkenness: If a group of kids has been binge drinking, they may decide to vandalize in response to their altered state. Everyone does stupid things when they are drunk and teens are no exception. They