Why Vandalism?

Why Vandalism? Window smashed in derelict warehouse - portentous voice-over & music: “This is vandalism...may be the symptom of a sickness...” Young man, Jeff, in street, pets passing dog, VO re lack of love & attention making him “feel as if the world is against him”. Jeff arrives home - dirty dishes & mess. 11:07:18 CU Jeff walking streets, brooding. Jeff in biology class cuddling rabbit as he puts it back in cage - other kids laugh at him. Jeff on street, bites into rotten apple & stamps on it angrily. 11:08:44 Jeff’s soon-to-be-delinquent friends introduced: Don nagged by mother to button up coat, “nagged & prodded until he hates them and himself”; Ed leaving house to sound of parents arguing. Jeff, Ed & Don meet up on street corner at night - all share “constant lack of affection” hence “danger of vandalism”. I 11:09:58 INT diner, soda fountain at jukebox. Boys eat ice cream, bored - dialogue scene inc. pan down to show Jeff ripping stuffing out of booth seat, Don vandalises spoon. Boys walk home past places of ‘healthy’ nighttime activity: community center w/ Boys’ Club, after-school club members leaving school, family outside church, preachy narration re “moral values”. 11:14:05 Boys see sign for free movies at Community Center, decide not to go as other kids go past laughing; social worker past & asks them if they’re coming inside. Look across to dark school building - “looks more like a prison” - notice open window & climb inside - VO “even so small a thing as an unlocked window may trigger an act of vandalism”. INT boys creep around dark corridors. 11:16:38 Don picks lock to science lab - Jeff shows others the white rabbit & cuddles it - find test papers & rip them up - escalates into vandalism of whole classroom - shelves of equipment pushed over - CUs boys realise what they’ve done but fire starts from smashed chemicals - others run off but Jeff stays behind to rescue “his” rabbit. Janitor arrives, turns on light, puts out fire. 11:19:20 Jeff, Ed & Don in court - judge tells parents they must share responsibility - “you have hurt them as surely as though you had denied them food...” - mothers crying in BG. Boys taken away after sentencing. Ethics; Child Psychology; Juvenile Delinquents; 1950s Americana; Teenagers; Social Problems; Crime; Film Noir; Educational Films; Bruno Bettelheim;