Acceptable A form of behavior that is
approved by the majority of people in the
community.
America The United States of America.
Apathy Showing a lack of interest or not caring.
Attitude A personal feeling of one’s
self-worth, abilities, and expectations that is
influenced by society, community, family, and friends.
Beautiful Anything that people believe is attractive, pretty, or appealing.
Behavior An action that is taken by an individual.
Blight The condition of a street,
neighborhood, or area caused by litter,
accumulations of trash or debris, graffiti, or buildings and lots that are not
taken care of.
Citizens The residents of a community.
Community The people, places, and things
which make up the area in which we live
and work.
Cost The impact that a destructive activity
such as graffiti vandalism has on the
entire community.
Crime An action that intentionally breaks a
law. Crimes may be committed
against both people and property.
Deliberate An action that is done on purpose.
Disorder A condition of society or a
community in which laws are disobeyed and
people show no respect for the well-being or property of others.
Education The process of learning something
new or increasing your knowledge of a
subject.
Environment The natural surroundings of our
community, including its trees, water,
parks, open spaces, and air.
Eyesore An area or building made visually
unattractive by graffiti, litter, overgrown
weeds, or accumulations of trash.
Good Citizens People who follow their
community’s laws, respect property owned by
others, and are concerned about their families, friends, and neighbors.
Graffiti The writing, marking, painting or
scratching of a mark, name or message
on any surface without the permission of the owner.
Graffiti-free The condition of any surface that does not have graffiti.
Illegal Something not allowed by law.
Keep To have possession of, or to control.
Landscape To plant flowers, bushes, or trees in an area to make it more attractive.
Litter Waste that is generated by people
and discarded in an inappropriate
place, such as a street, playground, lot, or stream, or improperly stored
waste that escapes from its container.
Litter-free An area that contains no litter.
Mural A large picture painted on a wall or
building with the permission of the
property’s owner.
Offensive Something that many people in a
community find to be disrespectful or
harmful.
Owner/Ownership The person, business, or agency to whom property belongs.
Paint Out To erase graffiti or other
markings by painting over them with a color that
matches the rest of the surface.
Permission To do something with the approval of the person who owns the property.
Pollution The contamination of soil, water, or air by improperly disposed waste.
Prevention A step that someone does to keep an unwanted thing from happening.
Pride To take pleasure or satisfaction in
your own work, personal appearance,
or neighborhood.
Private Property Property that people may not enter without the permission of the owner.
Public Property Property owned and
maintained by the community for everyone’s use,
such as parks, streets, schools, and libraries.
Recognition The act of being noticed by
other people or winning their approval for
something done.
Remove To take away or make something disappear.
Respect To show courtesy and responsibility.
Responsibility Showing trustworthiness and good behavior.
Self-Control To have control over your thoughts and actions.
Self-Expression To express a personal
feeling or opinion through words, gestures, music,
art, or any other action.
Strong Powerful or possessing great strength.
Tagging The act of a graffiti vandal to
write, draw, paint, or etch a “tag” name onto
any item or surface without the owner’s permission.
Tagger One who uses graffiti to mark any surface with a name or initials.
Unacceptable A behavior or action that is
not approved by the majority of people in the
community.
Uninvited Something that is unwelcome or occurs without approval.
Unwelcome Not wanted.
Unwanted Something that is not wanted.
Vandal One who purposefully damages or destroys property owned by another.
Vandalism A crime in which damage to
property owned by someone else is done on
purpose.
Victim A person who suffers because
something he or she owns has been
damaged, destroyed, or lost because of a crime.