Teen Buzz: Can you hear it?

Posted by Kenneth Ronkowitz on


Heard about teen buzz? It's supposed to be a high-frequency sound that can't be heard by (most) adults. And the word is that kids are taking advantage of this by using it as a ringtone that is "Teacher-Proof."

It came from research to find an annoying ultra-high frequency sound that would bother teens enough to get them to stop hanging around shopping centers in the U.K. - but that wouldn't annoy the desired adult patrons. Sounds like those questionable repel-insects-with-sound boxes I've seen advertised. In fact, the product that came out of the research was called the "Mosquito."

Now, kids who want to use their phone to pass notes for social purposes - or to cheat - in class may try to use the tone.

Compound Security's Mosquito device emits a high-pitched sound at 17 kilohertz (khz).

They say that as we get older we develop presbycusis, or aging ear and lose our ability to hear higher-frequency sounds. It's not a certainty - there's no magic age where we stop hearing it - so a twenty-something might be able to hear it, but it's unlikely that a 35 year old will.

The company has received so much attention that they started selling a ring tone called Mosquitotone.

Want to test your ears and your age? Play the tone

I heard about this first on NPR - but I couldn't hear the tone. That site links you to a place to download the tone. I did, played the mp3 and I could hear it. Anyone got an explanation?

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