Noise Audible Only to Teens Used Against Loiterers
A wall-mounted gadget designed to drive away loiterers with a shrill, piercing noise audible only to teens and young adults is infuriating civil liberties groups and tormenting young people after being introduced into the United States...
The high-frequency sound has been likened to fingernails dragged across a chalkboard or a pesky mosquito buzzing in your ear. It can be heard by most people in their teens and early 20s who still have sensitive hair cells in their inner ears...
It's been used successfully in Europe, where of course it's now being challenged by some politicians as "racist". From the Brussels Journal:
European Parliament Should Not Ban Mosquito, Says Inventor
A letter from Howard Stapleton
Dear Sir,
My name is Howard Stapleton. I am the inventor of the Mosquito. The main drive behind my invention was that my 15-year-old daughter was unable to enter our local shop owing to a gang of badly behaved teenagers loitering in the doorway and making a nuisance of themselves. As I discovered later, and sales of my device have proved, this was not an isolated case. Can the Members of the European Parliament who are campaigning to ban my device offer an alternative so that the blight of anti social teenage behaviour can otherwise be resolved without involving millions of Euros?
[...]
I find it extraordinary that an inexpensive solution to a serious problem is at risk of being cast aside for what I can only assume are political motives. Every time I have been interviewed on radio or T.V. where members of the public have been asked their view more than 70 per cent were in favour. Many went on to suggest the Civil Liberties campaigner or the M.P.s who wanted to ban the Mosquito come and live at their address. They would then get a taste of what it was like to visit local shops or children’s play areas trying to avoid often drunken and abusive teenagers. They want our streets returned to law-abiding citizens and will support anyone who can help. [...]
Should people be forced to tolerate anti-social behavior, physical attacks and crime, and have their businesses disrupted by gangs driving away their customers, just to avoid being called racist? Many Leftists think so. Yet far more disturbing than the device, is the fact that it's become necessary for so many people to use it just to maintain safety and protect their businesses. There was a time when such devices were not needed. What's happened to the concepts of law and order and a civil society?
Read the whole thing for more details of this fascinating and simple invention, and the political attempts to stop it.
No comments:
Post a Comment