The United Kingdom made headlines when they introduced a “teen repelling” gadget that used sound to drive loitering teens away from buildings. Now they are making news again because they are afflicting this atrocity on American teens. The heinous gadgets are already dropping on American and Canadian soil, with nearly 1000 of the units installed already.

 

The units supposedly work to drive young ears away by producing a sound that is akin to a high, whining, exceedingly loud mosquito, as irritating as fingernails on a chalkboard and supposedly quite painful to young ears. As it turned out in Britain, they are painful to more than just the young, and in fact nearly everyone can hear the horrendous noise. Businesses and apartments that have installed the gadgets in the United States are already experiencing the wrath of the people as they face boycotts, bans and protests.

 

Civil liberties groups in other countries where the irritant has been in use for some time are up in arms, saying it discriminates against the young and the homeless and that it should be considered a weapon. The device makers claim the noise does not bother animals, babies, the elderly, or people with sensitive ears, even though evidence to the contrary is rampant. Even if the device is designed to only harm the ears of those in the 12 to 30 bracket, why the excessively cruel tactics?

 

Many cities and towns in America are taking action to preemptively ban these gadgets. Those towns that don’t may be surprised at how quickly people protest the noise being made by the device and the way it targets a much maligned demographic: teenagers. Many people think there are far better ways to keep kids from loitering on your stoop than to torture them with technology like this, and I’d have to agree. Of course, I’m one of the people who can hear the noise as well, so I may be biased in favor of my own sanity and ear drum health.

 

As an added bonus, the company has been commissioned to make an even more loud and intense version for sale to the United States military. Why do I think that does not bode well for citizen protests and other crowd based events, not to mention whoever is unlucky enough to fall under the category of “the enemy” these days.