On Saturday, August 2nd, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School was viciously vandalized. While anything important to the school wasn’t stolen, it still faces thousands of dollars in broken electronics, graffiti painted on the walls, broken windows, and much more. The motivation behind the attack is unknown and authorities are still launching an investigation.
The school reports that many items were vandalized and broken. Which includes smashed computer screens, trashed classrooms, expended fire extinguishers, and overturned and broken desks. One of the Clergymen, Father Craig, has put out a statement on the official website of the school that conveys how the criminals have broken into 4 classrooms, the parish school, auditorium, and other parish facilities.
Father Craig has also put out a statement confirming the arrest of the two vandalizes saying,
“The sheriff has arrested two people. I am grateful for the department’s prompt response and investigation. The legal process to determine guilt or innocence has yet to unfold.”
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Schools stands about 4.7 miles away from Rio Norte, located at 23225 Lyons Ave in Newhall, which is about a 16-minute drive. This occurrence being relatively close to our school causes the question. Can this influence more people to commit delinquent acts? How can we prevent hooliganism like this from happening in our community?
To combat these problems in our community and local areas, an interview has been set up with our Vice Principal, Mrs. August, she stated that we could protect our schools and community, by” Making sure that our lights are on”, and they also have safety staff who patrol on the school grounds whenever there’s a vacation.
She also stated that to prevent future vandalism, “We can keep a positive view on our school, and by stopping bullying we can make this school a good memory for students so they won’t come back and harm us.”
In conclusion, we can protect our communities by taking the proper precautions and making sure that we always have each other’s backs. We must make sure that nothing like this ever happens again to one of our community facilities and this act of unmotivated and uneducated violence will not go unaccounted for.