May 1, 2008 8:16 pm US/Eastern
Buzz Off: 'Mosquito' Device Targets Loitering Kids
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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The Mosquito, created by a company called Kids Be Gone, broadcasts sound at a high frequency that only people from 12 to 25 years old can hear.
WBZ
It is a small device that hangs outside of storefronts. Its mission: to ward off loitering teens at places like the Hot Chocolate Sparrow in Orleans, and according to a newspaper report, the "ultrasonic teen repellent" is helping.
The Cape Cod Times says the
Mosquito, created by a company called Kids Be Gone, broadcasts sound at a high frequency that only people from 12 to 25 years old can hear.
The high-frequency sound has been likened to fingernails dragged across a chalkboard or a pesky mosquito buzzing in your ear.
Click here to test the frequency sound.
But while youngsters cover their ears, older folks cannot hear a thing. Older people are unable to hear the sound due to the loss of sensitive hair cells in the inner ear.
Hot Chocolate Sparrow owner Marjorie Sparrow tells the Cape Cod Times she sometimes uses the device to keep kids from hanging outside her storefront when the shop is closed.
According to Daniel Santell, the North American importer of the device, the noise can be heard by animals and babies, but is bothersome only to children older than 12 and becomes unbearable after several minutes, making it a perfect teen-repellent. The same sound is also used as a cell phone ring tone meant to fall on the deaf ears of adults, and is a popular download on the Internet.
Some teens say they don't like the idea of the Mosquito. "I feel stereotyped," 13-year-old Chase Gallagher told the paper. "I don't get it. (The Sparrow) wants customers, don't they?"
This device is also being used in London. WBZ's Charlie D'agata checked it out back in February. "It gives me a headache," a teen told him. "It can make you feel sick if I'm around it too long."
Some activists overseas have started a "Buzz Off" campaign to ban the Mosquito, which they call a dog whistle for kids.
Back here in the U.S., Simon Properties told the paper they don't use the device at the Cape Cod Mall or any other Simon Mall in the Northeast. "We regard teen shoppers as an important consumer segment," a mall spokesman told the paper.
Santell said the Mosquito does not violate any noise ordinances, but added that the company will soon be selling the same product with a higher "power," or decibel output, that will only be sold to government agencies
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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