Teenager repellant

Teenager repellant

A Tokyo park is playing a high-pitched tone each night to keep away pesky teenagers.

May 26, 2009 2:47 by Aarti Nagraj

A park in Tokyo has resorted to using ‘The Mosquito,’ a device which emits a noise only audible to young people, to help drive away teenagers who keep vandalizing its facilities during the night, reports Reuters. The high-frequency tone generated is unbearable to those who can hear it, say officials.

Young people hanging out in the Kitashikahama Park reportedly caused damage amounting to around $7,400 last year, prompting action from the authorities.

“We were a little worried about whether the local government should be using such a device to exclude certain people, even if these are young people that are causing problems,” Haruyuki Masuda, an official in charge of parks in Tokyo’s Adachi district told Reuters. “But we have been unable to resolve the issue and many people said we should try it,” he said, adding that the device would be tested at the park from 11:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. every night until March 2010.

While ‘The Mosquito’ is not new, its use by an authority may well be. If successful, will it encourage other governments to use it as teenager repellant? Maybe it could be used in public smoking areas, or at even at bars and discos where the legal age is 21. That is, unless some older people are lucky enough to have youthful ears.