When the Mosquito goes off it causes pain and irritation for teens and children. Adults can't hear it and are unaffected. (Source: BBC News)
Here's a closeup of an installed mosquito, armored to protect its against its youthful enemies. (Source: BBC News)
Meanwhile, British politician battles to ban the Mosquito, which is "a weapon against children" according to activists
After his 15-year old daughter was harassed by a gang of youths, British citizen Howard Stapleton resorted to extreme measures. He invented a device which emitted an ultrasonic pulse, four times a second for up to twenty minutes. The device's 17-18 kHz high-pitched buzz resembled a mosquito. While the device was imperceptible to anyone past around the age of 25, to teens and children in caused pain and irritation.
The device took advantage of the fact that people under 25 have fine hairs in the inner ear, capable of hearing high frequency noise. Stapleton had realized a time immemorial dream of geezers the world wide -- a young person repellent.
Fast forward fifteen years later and Stapleton, with the help of partner and commercial director Simon Morris, has created an active company Compound Security Systems, which markets the device. The device, dubbed the Mosquito, has sold very well with over 3,500 locations in the country. It retails for £500, and thus has made the company approximately £1.75M, or about $3.44M USD in revenue.
The device has sold largely to local officials and law enforcement agencies, who install the device at shops, schools and railway stations to prevent children and teens from congregating at unwanted hours. Approximately 75 percent of sales, according to Compound Security Systems are to government bodies. These agencies see the device as a valuable tool to eliminate gang activity.
Now the device is starting to invade the U.S. In October of 2007 the Richland County Sheriff's Office in South Carolina became the first U.S. organization to deploy the device. The test deployment included units being placed at the Columbia Mall, a popular youth hangout. Compound Security Systems provided the test units free of charge to drum up business stateside. The police Sheriff Leon Lott was ecstatic at the chance to deploy the technology, stating, "We want to be proactive, we want to have this in place before we have problems like New York, and Boston and New Orleans."
But as the device begins to land in the U.S., it is under attack in its homeland -- one English politician took up the fight on the children's behalf, arguing the device infringes on children's rights. Sir Albert Aynsley-Green, the Children's Commissioner for England appointed to represent the views of the country’s 11 million children, sees the device as a clear infringement on the rights of young people. He has launched a campaign called "Buzz Off" attacking the use of the device and calling for a nationwide ban on it.
In an interview with the BBC, Sir Aynsley-Green angrily states, "These devices are indiscriminate and target all children and young people,
including babies, regardless of whether they are behaving or misbehaving. The use of measures such as these are simply
demonizing children and young people, creating a dangerous and widening
divide between the young and the old."
Sir Aynsley-Green's campaign is being applauded by English human rights group Liberty, who lobbied against the device. Its director, Shami Chakrabarti, strongly opposes the device and calls it a "sonic weapon
directed against children and young people". She raises the thought-provoking point: "What type of society uses a low-level sonic weapon on its children?
Imagine the outcry if a device was introduced that caused blanket discomfort
to people of one race or gender, rather than to our kids."
Compound Security Systems insists that at 85 decibels the signal is perfectly humane and is no louder than an alarm clock or loud traffic. They say they are a victim of a smear campaign.
Like any good arms dealer, Compound Security Systems has also found a way to sell weaponry to both sides of the battle. In an ironic twist, the noise of the Mosquito has also been marketed by Compound Security Systems as a teacher-proof ringtone. The ringtone, which was the most popular ringtone when it was released in 2006, is extremely popular among youth who can call each other, while their teacher remains completely oblivious to the rings. Compound Security Systems admits that most of the ringtone sales have been from illegitimate sources.
Sir Aynsley-Green is also concerned about the ringtones, as he is worried they may pose a disruption to the learning process.
The battle over the Mosquito marks the latest controversy for the British government. It also marks an interesting new high-tech chapter in Britain's "youth v. adult" mentality, which powerfully influenced rock music and counter-culture movements of the twentieth century.
And like the rock movement, what starts in Britain quickly invades the U.S., for better or worse.
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