Oh Economist, Do Your Hilarious Observations Ever Cease?

In Great Britain a device called the Mosquito is being used to disperse groups of teens gathering in large groups in public areas. The Mosquito emits a high pitched tone only audible to teens, because of their less damaged hearing abilities. This high pitched tone is also extremely distressing to anyone that can hear it. Naturally ,there have been calls to ban this device, because after all this "solution" is kind of like using a sword to cut a slice of bread. That sword may very well cut the bread, but may also take a finger or two with it. The truly hilarious part comes with the British and Australian history of aural deterrents for rowdy teens.

"Over ten years ago stations on the Tyne and Wear Metro were equipped with speakers that blasted out classical music. Mozart and Beethoven did the job of dispersing or calming hooligans so successfully that London Underground later adopted the idea too. Australian authorities used a similar technique by playing cheesy music, such as Barry Manilow, deemed so 'uncool' by suburban teens that it would drive them away from troublespots."

I say bring back the classical and Barry Manilow. I'd downright enjoy that.

The Economist