Tensions appear to be escalating in Portsmouth’s community as hate crimes become more prevalent in the town we cherish. 

Portsmouth High School school resource officer Lynn Thomas agrees that there’s been an increase of these crimes in both our town, and in our schools.

“It’s still a small percentage of what we handle, very small… In my 19th year, they seem to be more frequent. It’s still a small percentage, but the numbers seem to be going up each year,” explained Thomas.

Recently, SeacoastOnline has covered stories about graffiti artists defacing public spaces. A teenage boy turned himself in after spray painting hateful symbols and messages on places of worship, buildings, and residences. And even more recently, a student spray-painted “UNH funds genocide” inside the University of New Hampshire’s historic Thompson Hall.

UNH President James W. Dean Jr. says that the act of graffitiing the school was purely destructive. “It is also worth pointing out that vandalism does not help the suffering people in the region in the slightest,” Dean said in a message to the school’s community addressing the issue.

“If we’re going to have a productive society or school, whether it’s Portsmouth High School or UNH, people need to be able to disagree in a civil manner and not with hate,” said Charles Grossman, PHS Assistant Principal. He also added that defacing something does not give your voice the proper attention.

“People are afforded their First Amendment rights, but when you vandalize other people’s property… that draws a line. People are entitled to their opinions, but when you do criminal mischief or vandalism, it’s a whole different element,” voiced Thomas. 

If an adult committed this they would be charged criminally and federally. However, if a student at PHS were to vandalize, the school would attempt to provide them with help and education on the matter, according to the Administration.

Depending on the hate crime, PHS has to investigate who committed it, and then confront the student. Once the student is found, PHS then determines the consequences. Grossman describes this as “a two-pronged solution.” 

“One is punishment and consequence; you want someone to feel the impact of making bad choices. But then also, this is the harder part… educating kids and having them do things beyond being suspended… so that they can learn how hurtful or hateful language or a hate crime is,” explained Grossman. This is also the same policy for students who make hate speech disguised as a poor joke.

Grossman also hinted at a program the school is considering making available to students. The program will help students learn how to make appropriate jokes. This is a fairly new idea, but Grossman hopes it will help prevent toxic student speech.

The PHS administration would like to emphasize what you, as a student, should do if you encounter behaviors like this. As soon as you see something, say something. Staff do not know until someone tells them. Tell a trusted staff member if you see something and report it immediately.