Teenagers hanging around in graveyards
Gravestones can sometimes be damaged accidentally by teenagers who hand around graveyards and sit on the gravestones. Why spend time in a graveyard? cemetaries and small church graveyards are generally quiet places, and in cities could substitute for parks or the lack of them.
Councils tend to provide playparks and places for young children to play, yet provide very little in the form of a place of their own for teenagers. Hanging around cemetraies can be a sign that teenagers do not have anywhere to go to meet and socialise.
This does not excuse vandalism in a graveyard.
Gravestones cost many hundreds of pounds. Families usually pool their funds to erect a stone in memory of their loved one.