h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

To teenagers everywhere, try the following.

- Why not contact your council with the aim of having them serve a noise abatement order... from the DEFRA website, "It is a council’s duty to take reasonable steps to investigate complaints about noise" Surely the use of a device to disperse people is a clear example of anti-social behaviour, worthy of an ASBO?

- Wear a set of earplugs. You can get them from chemists, they sit in the ear and are not really that visible, and they block out the painful part of the noise. Normal conversation is still possible.

- Ask a concerned adult (me for instance, 32 year old and can just about hear the high frequencies) to tell the person that operates the device that they will not get my custom, or that of my friends. Ask them to remind the shopkeeper that a 15 year old will at some point have spending power of their own, and they are annoying their future customers.

- fight back with electronics. Is there a way of using sound against these devices, for example playing white noise back at it? (Electronics expert insert opinion here)

- If your local MP, MSP or councilor supports these devices, visit their surgery, write letters and demand that if you are being forcibly relocated from one area, they arrange facilities suitable for your peers elsewhere. Also, ask their opinion on whether they believe the use of sound weapons counts as torture as declared to be unacceptable by Article 5 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Teenagers are our fellow citizens. They should have free access to our public spaces without it being assumed that they are up to no good. The vast majority are not.

Which part of 'No punishment without law' do people not understand?

Speaking as devil's advocate here (as I'm largely sympathetic with what you say), you could argue that the Mosquito is only one of a number of crime-prevention measures. We have CCTV for example.

We also have laws which are designed to prevent youngsters from drinking and smoking, for good reason. So to see groups of them drinking and smoking openly is seen by many as a deliberately antisocial and hence threatening attitude.

OK...but don't Mosquitos also punish the many teenagers who *don't* drink, smoke and generally get up to no good in public?

Put it another way...an equally effective deterrent would be to use a noise that also hurt law-abiding adults' ears.

You may enjoy this Guardian article on the subject, Edward:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2006/feb/17/news.g2

Icy