"Tagging is not simply an act of vandalism or violence; it is a social practice with its own rules and codes - a literacy practice imbued with intent and meaning" (MacGillivray, Curwen, 2007). Tagging is simply a form of art and does not consist of any criminal activity. Graffiti writers are considered vandals due to the fact that people misinterpret it, they are known as criminals, and people/community think that they are gang affiliated.
Many taggers are misinterpreted by the people from the community and they do not understand the purpose why taggers (artist) do their graffiti. "One problem with our understanding is that there is some basic confusion: by whom, the purposes for, and the meaning underlying the practice of tagging as a literacy act" (MacGillivray, Curwen, 2007).
Graffiti writers are often confused with gang members because of how they look and/or dress. "In schools, when students are practicing their tagging and graffiti writing, educators are often quick to assume a gang-related association" (MacGillivray, Curwen, 2007). "Taggers are not gang members. Gang members mark their territory by writing the name of their gang, tend to be more physically violent, and break the law for a variety of purposes, while taggers - whose loose affiliation with other taggers is known as a crew - tend to write their name and their crew's, tend to be less violent, and limit stealing to spray paint cans" (Phillips qtd. in MacGillivray, Curwen, 2007). It is important to understand that graffiti writers (artist) are not gang affiliated because if they were considered gang affiliated people will dislike their artwork and start judging them.
People do not seem to understand the purpose of graffiti. "The various purposes for engaging in tagging all relate to participants placing themselves favorably within a social network of their peers for whom tagging is a valued practice" (Lave & Wenger qtd. in MacGillivray, Curwen, 2007). "One purpose of tagging is to sustain social relationships; it is a form of dialogue and conversation" (Ferrell, 1995; Halsey & Young, 2002 qtd. in MacGillivray, Curwen, 2007). This is important for people to understand and know the purposes of why adolescents write/tag graffiti.
Graffiti has been a part of my life and it’s a form of expressing myself. I feel that a lot of other people feel the same way because of the things they’ve been through. It’s important to acknowledge this as an art form and not a crime. Most of the people have a lot of passion towards it and some people even make a living out of it. It’s also important to understand that these people (artist) don’t do this as a form to destroy the community but to enhance it and make it look beautiful.
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