Transformation: the bell is for the students
In the old age-old power struggle between teenagers and the adults who are responsible for them, the young people have found a new weapon in front of mobile phones that can change the balance of power: a ringtone that many adults are unable to hear.
In places where mobile phones are not allowed - for example during school hours - the new ringtone is a perfect way to indicate the arrival of a new text message (SMS), without the older teacher knowing about it.
"At first I didn't believe this was possible," said Donna Lewis, a technology teacher at Trinity School in Manhattan. "But one of the kids passed me a copy of Harrington, and I sent it to my colleague, who played it to her first-grade students. Everyone heard the ringing, while she and I couldn't hear it at all." The technology was developed in the UK and recently spread in the US. It is based on the fact that most adults gradually stop hearing high-pitched sounds.
Recently some students in different schools have started testing the limits of the new technology that has come into their hands. This is what, for example, the first year students did in the math class of the teacher Michelle Musorofiti, at "Roselyn" High School on Long Island. In their school, as in most schools, mobile phones must be turned off during class. Nevertheless, one morning last week, a loud ringtone was heard during class that sent shivers down the spine of anyone who was able to hear it.
To the surprise of the students, the teacher was also among the listeners. "Whose cell phone is ringing?", Musorofiti demanded to know, proving that even at the age of 28, her ears have not lost their sensitivity to loud and disturbing sounds. which are almost inaudible to the human ear. "Can you hear the bell?!" One of the students asked in amazement, "Adults shouldn't be able to hear that," another student said. The teacher definitely heard the ringtone and demanded that the student turn off the cell phone.
The ringtone she heard is a variation of a development called "Mosquito" (mosquito) by a security company from Wales. Its purpose is to harass teenagers on the one hand and meet the needs of adults on the other. The invention was marketed as a "youth repellant supersonic sound" - an ear-splitting 17 kHz buzz designed to keep away young people crowding in front of stores.
The principle behind the invention is the biological reality of ear aging. According to scientists, most adults over the age of 40 suffer from symptoms related to the phenomenon. Although most communication between humans occurs in the frequency range between 200 and 8,000 Hz, in middle age the ability of adults to hear high frequencies begins to deteriorate. "This is the most common sensory deterioration," said Dr. Rick Friedman, an ear surgeon and researcher in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, someone whose exact identity is unknown realized that the "Mosquito" technology - which uses the disabilities of the elderly to their advantage - can also be used against them. And so the "Mosquito" buzz was reinvented as the children's revenge: Harrington.
Paul Whitlow, New York Times
