Two LAPD officers hold up posters from the annual anti-graffiti contest.
Photo/Anette J. Jacobs
Schoolchildren design anti-graffiti artwork for an annual Kid Watch contest.
Caught in the glare of a police helicopter spotlight, a group of young people is halted in the act of tagging a van with graffiti.
This is just one of the dramatic images from the posters submitted to the annual anti-graffiti poster contest sponsored by the USC Family of Schools Safety Task Force and Kid Watch. More than 100 colorful posters were submitted, each conveying strong anti-graffiti messages.
Anette J. Jacobs, director of Kid Watch, said, "It was great to see through their art that the students understand the consequences of graffiti on individuals and on public property. I think what stands out the most to me is that the students are aware of the Kid Watch Program looking out for them and that our safety partners are really on our side in the community."
Top posters were selected in two categories. Taking the top award in the upper-grade category was Dong-Hyuk Shin from 32nd Street/USC MAST K-12. His poster advises would-be artists that it is OK to "spray" in a studio but not on the streets where a person can get into trouble with the law.
Christian Aguilar from St. Vincent Catholic School submitted the top poster in the lower-grade category. In his submission, a young person is caught in the act of defacing property by a police officer. The difficult task of judging the posters was left to representatives from partners of the Kid Watch program - the LAPD Southwest Division, Los Angeles School Police, USC Civic and Community Relations, Jim Starr, "the Singing Cop," and Kid Watch volunteers.
One of the judges, senior lead LAPD officer Sam Salazar, said, "I was impressed not only by the quality of the artwork - some of these young people are clearly talented artists - but by how well they grasped the message of the negative implications of tagging. They understand that it is bad for communities and has repercussions for the tagger if he or she should be caught."
In all, eight posters were selected for awards. Each student received a gift card from Office Depot for arts and school supplies. For more information about the anti-graffiti poster contest, contact Kid Watch at (213) 743-4287.
