STUDENTS of Tavistock College are making a stand against crime following a barrage of vandalism at the primary school. The college population is determined to improve the image of young people as it feels incidents of vandalism are giving the majority a bad name. An arson attack on a playhouse at Tavistock Primary School in September plus other damage caused to the school property and projects has shocked the teenagers who have formed ?Students Against Vandalism?. The youngsters will be holding a raffle and cake sale on November 8 to raise money to replace the playhouse used by the nursery children and aim to be very pro-active in the community. Fourteen-year-old Hugh White, a member of the College Senate, said the students learned of the damage one morning in assembly. He said: ?It was a big shock because it was so close to home. I cannot see why anyone would do something like that. ?We want to raise money to give back what the vandals took away and send out the message that we do not accept this sort of vandalism happening in our schools.? Hugh said young people would be encouraged to give information to the police if they could help in identifying who had carried out these crimes. Tavistock College principal Colin Eves said the students wanted to help following a visit by primary school headteacher Joe Flynn and West Devon youth intervention officer PC Dave Woodland. Mr Eves said: ?The police would obviously like to find those responsible ? it may not be students of Tavistock College but there is always an assumption that it is young people. ?The majority of them are a credit to themselves, their parents and the college but they are being affected by the behaviour of a small minority.? Mr Eves said his students did not like receiving a bad press and were aware that a lot had been done for them in Tavistock, including a skatepark and a youth café. ?They have a positive attitude and organising this raffle is just one of the many things the children will be involved in in the future to make a positive impact in the community.? Charity days, helping national and international aid appeals and volunteering in the community were some of the projects to which the pupils were committed. With the support of Mr Eves and school governor Martin Legg, who owns Tavistock Cycles, a mountain bike will be raffled by the students on November 8. PC Dave Woodland said there was a perception that young people were responsible for vandalism but that was not necessarily the case. ?It is important that young people do their bit to break down the prejudice against them and helping the primary school children is a way of doing this plus playing an active part in the community at the same time which is important,? he said. Raffle tickets are on sale at the college and are 50p each.
