Graffiti at Dannevirke school sparks safety concern

Dannevirke South School was struck by vandals and the principal is concerned someone could get hurt. Photo / Leanne Warr

An incident involving graffiti at a Dannevirke school has the principal concerned someone could get hurt.

Dannevirke South School principal Caroline Transom said it appeared the vandals had climbed up on the main block to paint graffiti over the weekend.

She said it also looked like they'd jumped down from the top of the building and she was worried they could hurt themselves.

There had been a similar incident in Palmerston North a few years ago where a child had fallen through a skylight at a school.

The child died from their injuries.

That was something Transom didn't want to happen to anyone again.

The graffiti included bad language which the school's pupils could have seen.

While the repairs had been done, that was still money that could have been spent on pupils.

She was disappointed at the behaviour but believed it was because youth were bored due to a lack of facilities in town.

"There's a lack of places for kids to hang out safely," she said.

Transom wanted the school to be a safe place where children could come and play safely but with that, there needed to be a level of respect.

She said she didn't want to have to lock up the grounds to stop people coming in, but could have to resort to that if the incidents continued.

"I wish there was some place they could go," Transom said, adding that a local police constable had made applications for a skate park to be built.

The construction of a new skate park is one of the things being considered as part of a proposed multisport complex.

The vandalism was reported by Dannevirke Community Patrol.

Community Board chairman Pat Walshe said incidents of graffiti had been rife in town a number of years ago but that had since quietened down.

He said he hoped it would only be a one-off.

Board member Terry Hynes said such a stunt was dangerous and if it was done because of boredom they could talk to the community board about what facilities or activities they wanted in town.

"What is it they're missing?"