Driving Away Teens With Buzz

Bleeding Edge

from the bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz dept

A security consultant in the UK has figured out a way to drive troublemaking teenagers away from storefronts, by creating a device that emits a high-frequency sound that can’t be heard by many people over age 20. Young people can hear higher frequencies than older people, so instead of using a previously proven technique for keeping kids away — playing loud classical music — the device emits a high-pitched pulsing noise that’s making the front of a Welsh supermarket (the only test location so far) unbearable for the young ruffians that used to hang around drinking, smoking and harrassing customers. They begged the shopkeeper to turn it off, but he told them it was necessary to keep birds away so they wouldn’t spread flu. The consultant’s other anti-loitering tools include “zit lamps”, special blue lights that accentuate teens’ pimples and blemishes, hoping they won’t hang out in places where they won’t look good. While The Mosquito appears for now to be a good solution, what happens when the kids have gone deaf from their iPods and can’t hear the buzz any more? Perhaps the shopkeeper chasing them away with a broom is still safe.