The “Mosquito” – Anti-Teenager Device
British people love animals and hate children. That’s a very big generalisation, but i won’t apologise for it because it’s the truth to a large extent.
The evil victorian saying “children should be seen but not heard” set the scene for the predominant British attitude to young people over the last century or more. So it’s hardly surprising that it was a British security company that developed a weapon which specifically targets teenagers. The Mosquito is a device that produces a high pitch sound which is usually not audible to older people, due to deterioration of the frequency response of the human ear which starts in your early twenties.
The aim of this weapon is to repel teenagers from places where they’re seen as causing trouble. The company that makes it says:
[......] the device was first used at a Spar shop in Barry, South Wales, where the owner Robert Gough was enthusiastic about the device’s success in driving away the local youths. “Either someone has come along and wiped them off the face of the earth, or it’s working” he is quoted as saying.
Is it just me, or is there something slightly sick about that? I can’t help wondering if he’d be just as happy if young people had been wiped off the face of the earth.
There’s no denying that a minority of teenagers in Britain cause a lot of trouble for other people. But in a country with a massive amount of social problems and an anti-social culture that’s based on hierarchy, alienation and exploitation, that’s hardly surprising. Teenagers haven’t got the monopoly on causing trouble, either. All the major problems that afflict this country have been caused by older people – not a single one has ever been caused by a teenager! In fact, it’s safe to say that all the serious problems affecting Britain have been caused by middle-aged white men. If someone could develop a weapon to repel them, things might improve! 
Of course, nobody wants to actually deal with the root causes of the problems in this country – that’s too much like hard work, and would involve them taking some kind of responsibility for the state of the place themselves. Instead, they’d rather kick at the symptoms and blame it all on the least powerful members of society. The predominant attitude is “bugger you and the future, all i care about is me, now!” And that attitude is exactly what’s driven the development of this weapon.
Yes, it does drive kids away from the places where people are afraid they’ll cause trouble. And no doubt it prevents some trouble that would have occurred if it hadn’t been installed. But it doesn’t only affect the trouble makers – and it doesn’t stop the trouble makers causing trouble somewhere else. In fact it’s much more likely to inspire young people who wouldn’t normally be antisocial to go out and start kicking at things themselves.
Singling out and alienating teenagers in this insidious way can only make the problems worse.
8 Responses to “The “Mosquito” – Anti-Teenager Device”
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They really are scummy, aren’t they? Perhaps if the bastards who invented them spent more time looking after their kids, they wouldn’t need them! Apparently there’s one at Netto! Rose and Jen could hear it, Anna and I couldn’t. Why do they want to assault the ears of kids going about their innocent business (although in Jenny’s case, that would mean mugging me, so, maybe…)?
Well, the bloke who invented them reckons he’s got three kids himself. Maybe he does look after them, i dunno – but he’s on the wrong track with this device. He’s made a very large amount of money from it though, and seems likely to make lots more!
Apparently people in Belgium and France are trying to ban it in those countries – and to get it banned by the EU, which would be good!
I might have to start boycotting Nettos then. And maybe i’ll hang around outside there and hand out earplugs to teenagers!
has the bloke who installed this piece of crap thought about basic human rights, discrimination and health issues?
Well, listening to him on the radio, i think he thinks he’s defending people’s human rights – by keeping “teenagers” from causing trouble. He is English, after all… [shrug]
Oh my god, Quick!!! Patent the anti-middle age white men device, I’ll take 5!
This is beyond belief, I agree with Clive and can’t believe it’s even legaL!!!
No worries – so long as you promise to switch it off when i’m around!
Did you hear about the man who installed one on his house, making it impossible for his neighbours’ kids to sleep? What a prat! This country is full of them!
No, i haven’t heard that one. People like that should be locked up!
His neighbours’ kids were probably pleasant, friendly, and helpful before that – but now they just chuck bricks through his window and hate all adults!