Kent County Council bans mosquito gadgets from buildings

For the love of all that's humane in this world, it's about time someone stepped up and put an end to this lunacy. Okay, so maybe that's overstating things a bit, but we're joyous nonetheless to hear that the Kent County Council in southeast England has "become one of the first in the UK to ban mosquito gadgets from its buildings." Here's a refresher: so-called mosquito tones are high-pitched frequencies that can only be heard by the younger sect (you know, those with outstanding hearing abilities). Apparently some businesses have been using said gizmos to keep kids from loitering and the like, but higher-ups in Kent feel this method of detraction isn't fair. If all goes to plan, councilors are hoping to ask the government to ban the devices altogether, but only time will tell if the notion will catch on elsewhere in the country.

[Via Digg]

[Jack @ Jun 16th 2008 9:37AM]

maybe they should use an Electro-Bastard ray instead, would keep people from loitering

[Flashpoint @ Jun 16th 2008 10:23AM]

well I for one won't be advocating for any "save the mosquito" campaigns.

[Smudgy @ Jun 16th 2008 11:29AM]

Yeah, West Nile (and all the others) be damned!

[john @ Jun 16th 2008 9:37AM]

Will this ban also cover not allowing teens to use those same tones as ring-tones, so that their teachers can't hear when the kid receives an SMS message?

(not kidding)

[Will @ Jun 16th 2008 9:44AM]

Some retirement homes recently have been putting disgusting, Goatse-esque images on their walls to deter teenagers. The old folks home's elderly have bad eyesight and don't mind the images one bit, but we younger folk can see every stretched-out detail.

[Brian @ Jun 16th 2008 5:05PM]

Ughm, just when I thought Goatse was erased from my mind...at least you didn't mention Tub Girl...

[Jon @ Jun 16th 2008 9:44AM]

As a Floridian, I saw the headline and thought, "mosquito gadgets, I need one of those"! Then I read down and realized that is not what I want... or is it... Just joking. Please someone make something that keeps mosquitos away.Thanks in advance

[Greg @ Jun 16th 2008 9:49AM]

There is, it's called British Weather.

[zargon @ Jun 16th 2008 10:58AM]

I hear you, here in Minnesota where our state bird should be the mosquito and our increadibly wet spring, has been a nightmare.

[Smudgy @ Jun 16th 2008 11:29AM]

Hey Jon, check out the ThermaCELL. We use up to gut moose in the bush (northern Ontario, Canada) and they WORK. I'm not sure if I can post URLs for products here or not, but I'll find out soon enough:

http://www.mosquitorepellent.com/

[rony @ Jun 16th 2008 9:52AM]

Mad evil genius: "Lets ban all anti-mosquito devices "
sidekick:" why boss?"
Mad evil genius: "so that they all die of malaria....and then I will rule the world...muahahahahhahahahahah"
sidekick: "um...boss....?"
mad evil genius:" yes?"
sidekick:" If they all die who will you rule boss?"
mad evil genius: um........ahem......shut up and kill that goddamn mosquito before it bites me....

[Nick @ Jun 16th 2008 9:55AM]

Sage.

[JimReaper @ Jun 16th 2008 10:01AM]

Was very surprised to see my county making world gadget news! Havent noticed these things around myself (as a young person :D) but some of my friends have mentioned them, glad they're going tbh.

[Jazazze @ Jun 16th 2008 10:04AM]

I too, was slightly shocked when I read that, I even had to read the title again, just to make sure!

[Matt @ Jun 16th 2008 4:49PM]

I live in Kent Country, but in the USA, so no good news about this for my area.
Then again, I haven't heard of any of these being used around here, so whatever.

[chris @ Jun 16th 2008 10:08AM]

Damn, I'm now going to have to start using my cowcatcher again, just to get through all those loitering teens.

[shelby @ Jun 16th 2008 10:22AM]

I'll put myself on a limb here and say I, for one, liked this idea of keeping people away. Yes, the people are typically the younger generation as you lose the ability to hear these sounds as you grow older.

Legally, it's somewhat dubious, as you are "sound polluting" I would imagine.

Still, I thought it was a clever way to go about things. Not hurting anyone I imagine, just annoying them.

[J3 @ Jun 16th 2008 10:22AM]

My wife and I are both 36. I can hear them perfectly fine. She can't hear a thing. I'm sure I'm not unique so you risk losing actual customers when these devices are used.

[Cooter_Davenport @ Jun 17th 2008 10:29AM]

Actually, the idea is that normal customers typically don't loiter around the store anyway. Since loitering kids tend not to spend much and can make normal paying customers feel uncomfortable about stopping in, a store owner isn't likely to lose any business because of one of these devices.

[dervheid @ Jun 16th 2008 10:40AM]

Oh goody, yet more wishy-washy liberalistic political correctness.

The dull thudding sound that can be clearly heard across the atlantic is the sound of millions of 'sensible' UK residents beating their heads off the nearest wall in frustration.

[Tim Brown @ Jun 16th 2008 11:30AM]

Yup, my wall now has a good dent that will keep on growing as another brilliant idea is thrown out by red tape and a civil servant wanting to get a promotion through a PC issue that will end up costing us more in tax. Oh fricking joy! I live in Liverpool and would love to see these plastered on every wall!

[Jason @ Jun 16th 2008 12:29PM]

Well, I'm nearly 30 and I can hear them clear as a bell.

The trouble for me is that the irritating sound is never isolated to the area being protected. I used to have a neighbor 4 houses down the street with one of those things, and I could still hear it sitting in my back yard.

He never ever believed me that I could hear it. Finally, I said, "How many people know that you have one? You keep it hidden behind the bushes. How do you think I know about the stupid thing??"

[dervheid @ Jun 17th 2008 3:24AM]

Woo Hoo!
Low ranked again!
You people are SO easy to piss off!
So, you clearly think that it's ok for a local 'authority' full of petty little people to curtail the freedom of the majority to use a perfectly legal device in a perfectly legal manner just because it upsets an overly sensitive majority.
It gets back to the problem that after all the politically correct libertarians have showered our precocious little kiddie-winks with a whole raft of "human rights" (the majority of which are, BTW, perfectly reasonable), they forgot to balance these 'rights' with commensurate RESPONSIBILITIES! Now, the minority of evil little shits have so many 'rights' the powers that be find that they actually have no powers over them at all now, and this is why they all run feral, with neither fear or respect for the rule of law because the KNOW there's FUCK ALL the rest of us can do about it!
Excuse me, it's time for me to return to my section of the wall and resume my head pounding duties!

[dervheid @ Jun 17th 2008 3:31AM]

now you see the results of the frusrated head pounding
"overly sensitive majority"
should of course read
"overly sensitive minority"

[task @ Jun 16th 2008 10:49AM]

If by 'sensible' you mean 'those who advocate the use of an indiscriminate sonic weapon in public places.'

[IT-Accountant @ Jun 16th 2008 10:53AM]

As an audio enthusiast, let me assure you that it is not only teenagers who can hear these frequencies. These devices are used in different places in NYC and they drive me INSANE. Like the high-pitched ringing an old tv makes, but much louder.

BAN THEM ALL!!!!

no joke.

If anyone started blaring loud frequencies which were audible to the general public, they would be arrested for disturbing the peace. Why is it that teenagers are any different? They are people too (hard to believe, but true).

[Greg @ Jun 16th 2008 11:07AM]

It's not just teens....I am 30 and can still hear that noise....it hurts.

[PGP-Protector @ Jun 16th 2008 1:47PM]

So you advocate the banning of sounds you don't like.
Do you also advocate the banning of music you don't like ?

[Jerry Whiting @ Jun 16th 2008 11:18AM]

Attention all Kent County merchants,

Download the Mosquito Ringtone and make your own unauthorized devices. Hide 'em in the bushes, broadcast it from trees, keep those pesky teen-agers moving. Heck, make it your music on hold and offend your paying customers!

[Jerry Whiting @ Jun 16th 2008 11:22AM]

Make that: JetCityOrange.com/mosquito-ringtone

Set up a Rick Roll page that plays the MP3 automaticly, give away free CDs that promise unreleased Prince tracks, reprogram your Big Mouth Billy Bass! You get the idea...

[Alpha @ Jun 16th 2008 12:16PM]

Wow Kent on Engadget!?

And well done to those people, we should educate not ban.

[mattclarkie @ Jun 16th 2008 12:19PM]

Wooh.


I live in Kent.

[MiLK @ Jun 16th 2008 6:04PM]

Me too...never thought I would see the words Kent County Council and Engadget on the same page!

[MikeWard1701 @ Jun 16th 2008 12:24PM]

*random assortment of expletives* civil servs! Don't they have anything better to do?

I'm 24 and can hear the frquencies these things put out, they can be annoying until you learn to filter it out, but they're far from painful.

If they're gonna ban these things we need an alternative strategy in place for dealing with loitering teenagers (prodominantly chavs). I'm all for security guards armed with automatic weapons, but no doubt someone would complain about that too!

[mattclarkie @ Jun 16th 2008 12:50PM]

You sound like David Blunkett when he wanted to send in the army to sort out a prison riot.

I was actually in favour of it.

[Chimera @ Jun 16th 2008 12:57PM]

Kent on Engadget! Who'd have thunk it.

/used to work for KCC
//many years ago.

[dom.rout @ Jun 16th 2008 1:07PM]

You're wrong. If these devices targeted the old, or people with learning difficulties, or black people, there would be uproar. I've got as much right to shop at my local Sainsbury's as a person twice my age without being bothered. These things are designed to target young trouble makers-but they also affect legitimate customers as well as pre-teenagers, including babies and young children.

Moreover, these devices can cause physical pain to those with hearing problems that make them overly sensitive to high pitched noises.

However, it seems that the one that annoyed me the most (at said Sainsbury's) as been switched off, so I am happy.

[dom.rout @ Jun 16th 2008 1:08PM]

Sorry that was meant to be a reply @ shelby.

[shaun @ Jun 16th 2008 1:22PM]

totally agree. There's one at my local shop and I go elsewhere now as the noise drives me mad

[Maff @ Jun 16th 2008 1:31PM]

everywhere here in the UK should have them, the dirty little scummy chavs are everywhere, the sooner they all disappear the better. Keep the streets chav free.

[operatic @ Jun 16th 2008 3:17PM]

In Minneapolis, they played opera music on downtown streets to discourage teenagers from loitering. It worked. No one complained about pain, but some teenagers said it was offensive to them.

[Wwhat @ Jun 16th 2008 3:32PM]

How are they going to enforce the ban? Cops are all past their teens so they can't hear it.

[Ethan @ Jun 16th 2008 3:49PM]

This whole idea that kids shouldn't 'loiter' is very strange. Let's stop making kids feel they have to be antagonistic to be listened to and make public places for everybody.

[SuperQ @ Jun 16th 2008 7:53PM]

The caltrain station in San Francisco plays a variable tone from about 15kHz to 17 kHz. Supposedly they do this to keep the pigeons from nesting in around the building. The real issue is that they play this tone really freaking loud. Even at 30 years old, I can still hear to about 18kHz.

One of these days I need to bring an SPL meter over there and find out just how loud it is.

[Steve @ Jun 17th 2008 12:03PM]

We had an issue with a local business owner that wanted to install a mosquito device in a building that housed a number of businesses and restaurants. Our town then passed a by-law banning these sort of devices. This was last year in Great Barrington, MA.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/04/23/teen.be.gone.ap/index.html

[Marvin @ Jun 25th 2008 10:42AM]

I for one am all for this type of technology. At least until some sort of punishment for wrong doing is brought in. Remember when kids come onto YOUR property and hurt themselves, YOU WILL GET SUED.