Tagging

What is the strong attraction that leads vulnerable male teenagers into the midst of graffiti culture? Is it the strong impulse to make a mark on the environment, similar to the way a dog leaves its mark on a lamppost? Maybe it is the desire for fame, artistic expression, power and rebellion which influences the practice of Ð''writing'. Perhaps it is their identity they are trying to search for and devise on the wall. It is a fact that graffiti's history can be dated back to prehistoric times when man created wall drawings based on a human Ð''need' for communication. To me the scrawled names and brightly coloured murals work their way into the urban setting overnight without a clear agenda or meaning.

Most of the graffiti writers are young, male and according to one Australian study, prone to depression and low self-esteem. They tend to indulge in risk taking behaviour which is heavily involved with the lifestyle such as scaffolding in the night, climbing ladders, entering storm water tunnels or escaping the hawking eye of the so called Ð''pigs'.

Graffiti is one thing that has its own sub culture complete with rules, jargon and a social hierarchy which these teenage boys try desperately to climb. At the heart of graffiti tagging is comparison, competition and challenge between taggers, which forms the pecking order of the individuals involved.

The graffiti culture seems to be a mask shielding the true identity of these youth. The other day I saw males of this type who had taken on a rather sheepish conduct of behaviour and dress sense. These boys would speak in their informal and hoodlum-like way, Ð''Sup bro' he says smoothly to the young male with the oversized basketball singlet and slanting new era cap. This boy sits slumped on his chair with his black pad in his lap as he frantically practices his "bombings" with his collection of vivid pens. You just know that these boys stay up to the late hours of the night exercising their so called Ð''talents',