I’ve always prided myself on my impeccable hearing. “Spidey Sense,” I call it. But alas, it seems that a European import has led me to despise my young undamaged ears. Known as the Mosquito, this device emits an utterly annoying high-pitch sound that can only be described as audible death.
What makes the Mosquito more than a mere replica of Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniel’s “most annoying sound in the world” is the fact that the piercing noise is set at a specific frequency, designed to infiltrate only the ears of those under 25 years of age. It is the sensitive hair cells of those still unaffected from blasting iPods and general hearing loss that are susceptible to the Mosquito.
Irony, anyone?
Imported into North America by the apparent child-hating company Kids Be Gone, the $1,500 product is marketed to business owners whose profits are suffering due to certain adolescent loiterers. The website reads, “Whilst most young people are law-abiding and cause no problems, the presence of certain groups of teenagers can often discourage genuine customers from entering shops and other premises with a subsequent detrimental effect on turnover and profits.”
The sound, “whilst” not painful in a conventional sense, becomes maddening after several seconds.
Sure, the Mosquito is perfect for keeping young entrepreneurial drug dealers away from the corners of liquor stores, but what about the children merely passing through who must run to escape the noise?
Unless the Mosquito is placed on private property, the product will affect children both good and bad. To discriminate against the ease-of-hearing is just plain ridiculous.
Civil rights groups in England, Australia and Scotland have argued that the device is violating the rights of children and young adults. According to CNN, England’s government-appointed Children’s Commission even proposed a ban saying that the Mosquito could have unknown long-term health effects.
A serious aversion to whistles, perhaps?
While the pricey child and adolescent repellent is attracting flack for both its purpose and its discrimination against young people, the piercing sound heard at 17 kHz has a cult following with both young and old for a reason completely unrelated to its ability to clear out an open area.
The Mosquito ringtone is all the rage. Although it’s available in a wide range of frequencies to accommodate those with hearing loss, the real target demographic consists of kids in school. With the ringtone at their disposal (and a teacher who is neither young nor hip), kids can hear their cell phone ringing while their teacher is completely unaware.
But for the rest of us who are aware, the Mosquito is a nuisance and runs a very close second to “the most annoying sound in the world.”
Kendra Fujino is a senior journalism major and a contributing writer for the Daily Forty-Niner.
