Self-Reported Frequency of Vandalism at School: Issues of Gender, Age and Schooling

Abstract

This research aimed to describe the practice of self-reported school vandalism by students, also relating it to gender, age and schooling. In this way, 508 students who attended the Brazilian basic education system since the seventh year answered a questionnaire in a public school in Florianópolis (SC). Actions that cause abrasion of the built structure were the least practiced, while practices that affect the surfaces of that structure by deposition of residues, actions such as littering and against equipments allocated in the building were the most frequently reported. The results also indicated a difference between sexes and between students of the elementary and high school regarding self-reported vandalism, suggesting that female individuals and high school students have greater environmental care. A relationship with the participants’ age was not found, raising questions about how the school grade level and the age interact in the process of pro-environmental human development.