CALIFORNIA (UPDATE) COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM SCHOOL Avenal acts show need for vigilance | visaliatimesdelta.com | Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance-Register

Vandalism at Avenal Elementary School committed by children that totaled as much as a half million dollars has shocked people throughout the San Joaquin Valley.


The incident raises many questions about the nature of our communities, the way we are raising our children, the lack of respect for public property and the security needed in an era when people seem to have no conscience whatever about destroying public property.

The response to these crimes ought to be sure and convincing punishment. It must be accompanied by a change in attitude and thinking that turns around the notion that too many of us have that property is fair game to be vandalized or stolen. There is little regard for life or limb among some segments of our society, but there is even less respect for property.

In this case, a small group of children, some as young as nine years old, invaded Avenal Elementary School and went on a destructive rampage that officials estimate must have lasted several hours. They destroyedcomputers , learning materials, books, furniture and furnishings. Virtually nothing was left untouched. The school was left a mass of broken glass, destroyed electronics, ruined carpeting and walls, destroyed books ... Whatever could have been destroyed was ruined.

Police rounded up five boys ages 10 to 12 right away. But they were not all. They traced the damage to others. There could be more arrests.

But the most shocking part of this incident was that two brothers stole laptop computers from the school and brought them home. Their parents helped the boys wipe off fingerprints and conceal the computers.

The parents were arrested and booked into jail on charges of aiding and abetting, and destroying evidence. The father was out on bail for another crime, so his bail was set at $125,000. His wife's bail was $25,000.

In that family there is obviously no respect for public property, or property of any kind. The lessons from the parents have been well-learned.

The extent of damage and severity of the crime in this incident was unique. The other circumstances were not. Our Valley is filled with people who have no qualms about vandalizing whatever they see. If they can take it for some personal gain, they will. If they can't take it, they will destroy it.

Our communities should have no sympathy for those who behave that way.

The irony and tragedy in this case is that Avenal is a poor community, like many in the Valley, and its residents will not be able to pay for the damage to a school that is serving their children. Crime frequently falls upon those who are already victims.

The lesson for all the communities in the Valley is that security of our public places can't be overemphasized. Yes, we would like to live in a world where everything does not need to be locked up, nailed down and fenced in, but the reality is that is the world today.

We would hope that families teach their children respect for property along with other virtues, but too many are getting an entirely different lesson: Take what they can because that's the only way they will get it.

It's a sad commentary on the times, but it is another reminder that the most valuable quality for survival in our world is vigilance.