A vandalized toilet at Kitashikahama Park in Tokyo's Adachi ward is raising questions about the effectiveness of the park's controversial new "Mosquito" alarm -- a device designed to repel teenagers by emitting an obnoxious high-frequency tone that only they can hear.
The Mosquito, which was installed at the park on May 21 to discourage teens from hanging out there after hours, now operates every night from 11:00 PM to 4:00 AM. The device produces a high-pitched tone of around 17 kHz, which is unbearable to teen ears. The sound has no effect on older people, as the ability to hear high frequencies declines naturally with age.
The broken toilet, which was discovered on the morning of June 21, appears to have been smashed with a baseball bat. Spent bottle rockets were also found at the site.
Surveillance camera footage showed what appeared to be as many as seven teenagers hanging out in the park in the early morning hours of June 21, while the Mosquito was in operation. Authorities were unable to determine whether the teens in the video were responsible for the vandalism.
According to Adachi ward officials, teen vandals inflicted 700,000 yen ($7,400) worth of damage in the park last year. Unable to solve the problem with extra patrols, the authorities began searching for new measures. They eventually turned their attention to the Mosquito, which is already in use at some Tokyo-area convenience stores plagued by loitering teens.
The prospect of using the Mosquito has been controversial, and critics question whether it is in the city's interest to use such a device that discriminates against young people as a group, even if they are responsible for causing problems. In the end, the officials decided to test the device at the park until March 2010.
The smashed toilet is first case of vandalism at the park since the Mosquito was installed.
[Source: MBS]
Carola
This is also used at some places in the Netherlands, like parking lots, garages and streets, to prevent teenagers from hanging around.
[]Duncan
Why don't they just play country music?! ;)
[]TalentlessTroll
Maybe those kids are the type to play music really loud so they already damaged their ear drums so they cannot hear the frequency?
[]Juergen
Vandalism doesn't take a long time, so maybe they just were able to ignore the sound long enough?
Not to mention that somebody installing something to annoy youths will, in fact, annoy them, making it even more likely that they will respond by vandalising stuff (the Mosquito devices being the obvious first target...)
[]Vivian
I agree. Having been a rebellious teen - I know for a fact that if there was something put somewhere to make me stay away, I would wreck havoc on that area - or completely pulverize the device.
If they're aiming at trying to keep teens away, they should invest in security guards. They are, at least, a little more amusing. ;)
[]Ush
Exactly. The authorities seem to be forgetting that teens can't be "taken care of" like pests or straying dogs. I shudder to think of what they'll come up with next as opposed to, say, community awareness programs or even better leisure facilities for young folk...
[]Howard Stapleton
My Invention the Mosquito is not a magic wand but with other 5000 units installed world wide it has proved to dramatically reduce problems. The few times it has proved to be ineffective is when there simple has been no where else for the kids to go. The volume of the Mosquito ensures that there is no risk to hearing but this does of course limit its range, may be more units are required at this location, but of course I would say that :-) An example of the effectiveness of the Mosquito was a greater than 80 percent reduction in vandalism at a UK school were 35 units were installed around the site for use out of school hours. As the saying goes 'Only time will tell'.
[]Regards Howard Stapleton (Mr Mosquito)
Modern Moron
First of all I agree that it's age discriminatory. Imagine if it were possible to create a device that did the same thing, except for only to older people?
Secondly, the sound is annoying but not that annoying. I'm in my mid-twenties and I can still hear it. The kids at my work have been using it as a cellphone ringtone to annoy each other for fun. In other words, in my opinion it loses its effectiveness as soon as teens realize its there and WHY its there.
[]logboy
someone needs to look into this a little more, because, here in the UK, this mosquito thing went from minor miracle and very quickly onto discussion of human rights legislation.
[]Eh
They can just wear earplugs to do the vandalism...
[]RubyRaver
OR you could hire ninjas to stalk the nights, and when they find the unruly teens, knock em unconscious and in compromising places/positions to be found/humiliated in the morning?
I also agree with Eh. Earplugs could reduce this deterrent very quickly. What if they are listening to music, also?
The best way to deter is to scare them... but how is the question.
[]Macossay
Combine the ideas -- play country music at frequencies only teens can hear.
[]jyamato
Just have someone snipe with rubber bullets (or better yet, real ones) from a nearby rooftop a few times and people will eventually stop coming.
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