So, while others are writing about an Archbishop suggesting that the UK should adopt Muslim’s Shariah law, in the name of "unifying" the country (sounds stupid? it is, and thankfully the gov’t rejected it.) I think I’d like to point out another civil rights "irregularity" brewing across the pond that has me a bit annoyed.
Kids’ commissioner calls for ban on Mosquito, ultrasonic anti-teen device - Times Online
The £500 Mosquito device has been installed at some 3,500 locations across the country since it first went on sale in January 2006. It emits an irritating, high-pitched sound that can only be heard by children and young people up into their early twenties, forcing them to move on. The device works by emitting a pulse at 17-18 kilohertz that switches on and off four times a second for up to 20 minutes. Teenagers can pick it up through minute hairs in their inner ears – but those hairs tend to die off by the time they reach 25.
Compound Security insists that the device is both safe and legal. Mr Morris said that it operates at 85 decibels, making it lower in volume than the traffic on most high streets, and most teenagers would take quite a while to even notice that an emitter had been switched on. He compares the level of irritation with going downstairs without turning off your alarm clock - "you can ignore it for a couple of minutes but after five minutes it starts to get annoying".
My thoughts were well put by one of the British commenters on the story:
What has happened to equality? I struggle to find much on these forums, although I applaud those people unaffected by these devices who still oppose them. As a law abiding person under the age of 21, I find it appalling that my rights, as a legal adult, should be abused in this way. Age discrimination is a recognised problem in society, and yet when the positions are reversed, and it is the young, as an indiscriminate group who are targeted, our rights are being abused.
If shopkeepers seek to cure the problem of loitering, that terrible crime, there are dozens of ways in which this could be attempted. Maybe they aren’t as effective, but since when has vigilantism been justifiable on the grounds of efficiency?
Come on Britain, come to your senses, this is not a step in the right direction, this is a potential criminal offence, under nuisance laws, discrimination laws, or possibly even a criminal assault. I hope common sense prevails and they are banned quickly.
Edward Murdoch, Glasgow, UK
