Can a Dog Whistle Device Deter Nuisance Youths?

[Math Is Hard]

I usually just turn on the lawn sprinklers to rid my yard of pesky teenagers, but this looks fun, too.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/staffordshire/4715526.stm

A high-pitched "dog whistle" device is to be used by police in north Staffordshire to stop groups of nuisance youths hanging around shops. The Mosquito sends out a pulsing 80-decibel frequency noise which can usually only be heard by teenagers and those in their early 20s.

It is now being piloted at two locations in Leek.

The device, which costs £622, is fitted outside the shop and can be turned on by shopkeepers to move youths on.

Det Insp Amanda Davies, from Staffordshire Police, said: "We identified hotspot areas in the Moorlands where nuisance youths were regularly gathering outside shops and takeaways

 

[zoobyshoe]

I thought this would be a story about big, mean looking dogs trained to walk by the youths, eyeing them and whistling Every Breath You Take.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I have never run across this before, about people losing their sensitivity to these frequencies by their mid-twenties.

It reminds me of a thread here last year about people hearing high pitched whines coming from television sets while no one else seemed to be able to hear it. There is probably a lot of this kind of disparity in sensitivity to different sensory imput than has been documented yet.

 

[Math Is Hard]

oh, would I ever love to use this in one of my classes. We have the most obnoxious group of kids in that class and their lab table is right next to mine. I could hand out earplugs to my lab partners and then turn on "The Mosquito", and watch everyone else flee from the lab! hmmm...maybe I could just make one of these little devices...

 

[tribdog]

What?

 

[zoobyshoe]

oh, would I ever love to use this in one of my classes. We have the most obnoxious group of kids in that class and their lab table is right next to mine.

What is it they do that's bothering you? I could call in some of my mob favors and have them put out of your misery.

 

[Math Is Hard]

What is it they do that's bothering you? I could call in some of my mob favors and have them put out of your misery.

They are boorish, loud, and disgusting. Of the group of four, at least one is on his 3rd attempt to pass the class. At least two are sleeping together and make it well known to everyone surrounding through vulgar gestures to each other. All of them delight in shouting incoherent answers to all the teacher's questions. And during labs, they try to cheat off my hardworking group.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I suggest that you all eat lots of beans before going to class.

That'll teach em!

 

[zoobyshoe]

They are boorish, loud, and disgusting. Of the group of four, at least one is on his 3rd attempt to pass the class. At least two are sleeping together and make it well known to everyone surrounding through vulgar gestures to each other. All of them delight in shouting incoherent answers to all the teacher's questions. And during labs, they try to cheat off my hardworking group.

No measures taken by the lab supervisor (or whoever is running the show there) to get them to behave?

 

[Physics is Phun]

I can hear a high pitched whine coming from most tube tvs. When I come in my back door, I can tell immediately if the tv in my living room at the front of the house is on.

 

[Moonbear]

They are boorish, loud, and disgusting. Of the group of four, at least one is on his 3rd attempt to pass the class. At least two are sleeping together and make it well known to everyone surrounding through vulgar gestures to each other. All of them delight in shouting incoherent answers to all the teacher's questions. And during labs, they try to cheat off my hardworking group.

The instructor should invite them to remove themselves and their antics to someplace more appropriate than the classroom.

It still amazes me that loitering teenagers have become such a problem as to require a device like that to chase them off. Is it really a problem, or are there just a lot of grouchy shopkeepers?

 

[Math Is Hard]

I suggest that you all eat lots of beans before going to class.

Yeah, that's all well and good until I have to light the Bunsen burner.

The instructor should invite them to remove themselves and their antics to someplace more appropriate than the classroom.

I hope she gives them the boot. The teacher is really sweet and patient, but I think eventually she'll get sick of it.

It still amazes me that loitering teenagers have become such a problem as to require a device like that to chase them off. Is it really a problem, or are there just a lot of grouchy shopkeepers?

We had two teenagers living in an apartment downstairs from me - by themselves. Their mom left them there and went to live with her boyfriend. Pretty soon we had large groups of kids hanging out at all hours. Then they started selling drugs and it became like Grand Central Station. My neighbors on the other side were robbed. Our landlord finally was able to evict them (they stopped paying rent), but it took 3 months and he had to take the mother to court to get them out.
It would have been nice to have "The Mosquito" to help disperse them.

 

[Just some guy]

Bah, this story tempts me to go into Engineering just so I can invent a device that emits a sound which pisses off old people.

Youths loafing about is a problem, employing a device that affects the liberty of the majority to deter a minority of troublemakers is, to me, quite illiberal and disgusting.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Pretty soon we had large groups of kids hanging out at all hours. Then they started selling drugs and it became like Grand Central Station. My neighbors on the other side were robbed. Our landlord finally was able to evict them (they stopped paying rent), but it took 3 months and he had to take the mother to court to get them out.
It would have been nice to have "The Mosquito" to help disperse them.

7/11 stores began playing loud classical music through exterior speakers in locations where this kind of glomming based on drug sales became a problem. According to the article I read it worked.

This did become a problem around here, this glomming. It got so you had to squeeze through a crude gauntlet of teens to get into certain stores and fast food places. The police finally responded with a vengeance, outlawed all activity that even looked like gang activity, set a curfew, and made a bunch of drug arrests. Surprisingly good results.

 

[Moonbear]

This did become a problem around here, this glomming. It got so you had to squeeze through a crude gauntlet of teens to get into certain stores and fast food places. The police finally responded with a vengeance, outlawed all activity that even looked like gang activity, set a curfew, and made a bunch of drug arrests. Surprisingly good results.

See, that's what I don't quite understand. If they're doing something illegal, and even disturbing the peace is illegal, it seems calling the police to arrest them or issue tickets/fines is a more direct solution than trying to annoy them with high-pitched whistles, which may or may not work depending on how much they've already damaged their hearing with loud music. But, if they aren't doing anything illegal, then what's the need to deter them away? If it was any other group of people other than teens, wouldn't there be an outcry of age-ism, racism, sexism, or whatever other -ism fit the group they were chasing away?

 

[zoobyshoe]

It's a big step to call the cops and have them shake down a bunch of kids, kind of like calling animal control to come and shoot a bunch of pidgeons who roost on your business' sign, bombarding your customers. Better to make it undesirable for the pidgeons to roost there in the first place with those spikey things they put up so they can't even land.

 

[Just some guy]

It's a big step to call the cops and have them shake down a bunch of kids, kind of like calling animal control to come and shoot a bunch of pidgeons who roost on your business' sign, bombarding your customers. Better to make it undesirable for the pidgeons to roost there in the first place with those spikey things they put up so they can't even land.

A slight problem with your analogy is that last time I checked freedom of assembly isn't a right for pidgeons. Human beings, on the other hand...

 

[Math Is Hard]

A slight problem with your analogy is that last time I checked freedom of assembly isn't a right for pidgeons. Human beings, on the other hand...

They're perfectly free to assemble. They just have to tolerate the annoying sound.

 

[Manchot]

As a teenager last week, I would've been disgusted by this. Now, as a mature 20-year-old, I say, "Go get those whippersnappers!"

 

[Mk]

can usually only be heard by teenagers and those in their early 20s.

You're not safe here!

Happy Birthday!

 

[zoobyshoe]

As a teenager last week, I would've been disgusted by this. Now, as a mature 20-year-old, I say, "Go get those whippersnappers!"

Welcome to geezing codgerhood, Manchot! Your cane and bifocals are in the mail.

 

[GeorginaS]

People have the right to free assembly, but you certainly do not have "right" to loiter on private property.

The thing I don't quite get about this "Mosquito" thing is that, wouldn't it bother the empolyees too? Don't the fast-food loiter zones employ people the same age as the loiterers?

 

[zoobyshoe]

It says they're setting it up outside shops. There's probably enough deadening once you're inside not to bother you. Otherwise, you're right and I think they'd lose any employees who could hear it.