Mischief Night — Should We Tolerate Deliberate Vandalism?
| Author | R. Woodall |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8405700407 |
| Date | 01 October 1984 |
| Published date | 01 October 1984 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
R.
WOODALL,
B.A., A.R. Hist.Soc.
MISCHIEF
NIGHT
-SHOULD
WE TOLERATE DELIBERATE
VANDALISM?
In my later years as head of a large secondary school one day in the
year which caused me more trouble
than
almost any other was the
aftermath of November 4, "Mischief Night".
Is there in fact any way of checking the excesses which go on then?
As one
born
in the
south
of England this was a new one on me,
when I finally settled in the north. Iprobably had more rows with
parents over actions done by children then
than
at any time in the
school year.
If
by luck I had become aware of some mindless bit of
stupidity done by a youngster, I asked the parent to visit the school.
Inevitably I got the tale:
"What's
all the fuss about? I did worse, when
I was young. Why be such a spoil sport?".
Is it sport when youngsters deliberately put something
inflammable inside a pillar box to destroy the mail awaiting
collection there?
About
the only time I remember the parents of one
estate really wantingto lay their hands on the culprits was over such a
piece of "mischief'.
The
reason was
that
the pillar box had in it the
envelopes for the pools
that
week.
That
affected too many homes. It
hit their pockets as well.
That
of course was a police matter.
Too
often, local residents would come to the school for something
to be done. Many seemed to think the school was more likely to catch
the villain who had freed their pigeons or pulled up their plants
than
the police. Inevitably, too, there was the request:
"Don't
let anyone
know I made the complaint. Idon't want trouble with the
neighbours". Parents have told me
that
evenjuniors willcome home
from school on November 4bubbling with excitement because it is
"MischiefNight" - the night youngsters go
around
takinggates off,
tying
door
knockers together
and
putting treacle on
door
knobs and
the like.
It
may be traditional-
It
can waste an awful lot of time. One busy
man
Iknow to whom time ismoney was determined
that
no one was
having his gates off. He had his front lights on
and
sat in his front
room watching. He even had extra lighting fixed up to illuminate his
front gates. Inevitably the phone went. He was out of the room for
only
about
aminute, as it turned out to be a wrong number. When he
looked out, his gates had gone. They were not in the vicinity of his
house. They were finally found beside a main road
about
halfa mile
from his home. After
that
he decided to do without front gates
and
kept them in his garage.
356 October /984
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