Nanny Knows Best

Nanny Knows Best
Dedicated to exposing, and resisting, the all pervasive nanny state that is corroding the way of life and the freedom of the people of Britain.

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Nanny Bans Mosquito

Nanny Bans MosquitoNanny has rather a schizophrenic approach to life; for instance on the one hand she champions her ASBO scheme (designed to try to stop rampaging teenagers and other assorted nuisances ruining everyone else's lives), and on the other she is obsessed with human rights.

The problem with this schizophrenic approach is that it sends mixed messages, and in the end does more harm than good.

Nanny recently decided that a perfectly harmless device, designed to rid a supermarket of annoying teenagers who would loiter outside and cause trouble, was in fact an infringement of the teenagers' human rights.

What was this device?

The Mosquito, a sonic teen deterrent, which emits a high-pitched sound that can be heard only by those under the age of 20.

Seemingly, if you are under 20, the ear-piercing noise is so annoying that you can only can bear it for only a few minutes. Adults barely notice it.

The device has already been bought by dozens of shop-owners, shopping centres, local authorities and police forces, including the Metropolitan Police. It is non-confrontational, non-violent and is used to move teenagers on.

One of the first shops to install the Mosquito was a Spar supermarket, in Newport South Wales.

Since it was installed last October, the number of times police have had to be called to the shop to deal with gangs of rowdy youths has decreased by 84%.

In other words, the device works!

However, Nanny's chums in Newport Community Safety Partnership (which was set up by the local authority and the police) ordered the shop to switch off the Mosquito until human rights and health and safety issues have been "fully resolved".

Needless to say, Spar are not impressed; a spokesman described the decision as absolutely disgusting.

Saying:

"These louts can infringe our rights to run a profitable shop for the community yet we can't dare infringe on their right to make life a misery for our shoppers".

A safety partnership spokesman responded:

"We have a responsibility to the human rights and health and safety of the whole community to consider before approving the device or investing in more of them.

Our issue with the device is that it is indiscriminate.

It may well target yobs and move them on but other children use the shop as well.

If the noise upset a baby in a pram or caused a dog in a neighbouring house to bark incessantly then these are issues we would have to address.

If a child rode past on a bicycle and had an accident because of the noise the responsibility would be partly ours for authorising the Mosquito
."

Compound Security, the company that makes the device, insists that it is safe and that it does not breach the human rights of young people.

The nub of the problem is this, Nanny is showing fear and weakness; teenagers/children will always take advantage of that.

The human rights argument is being used by Nanny as though the teenagers were being flogged or imprisoned in an Iraq jail. That is patently not the case.

I would also note that if teenagers choose to behave in a loutish and sub human way, then they have by defintion denounced their human rights.

Those of you who would like to see CRACC's solution to yobbery, should read the manifesto on www.cracc.co.uk; it will work, that I can assure you.

13 comments:

  1. I want one- where can I get one!

    I fact, I want a crate- I could make a fortune selling them here!

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  2. Anonymous2:51 PM

    We are forever hearing about 'human rights': what about 'responsibilities'? As far as I am concerned, if some teenagers or any other group behave in a manner that is deemed unacceptable, they should immediately forfeit their 'rights' until such time as they start behaving like civilised human beings.
    As far as this Mosquito device is concerned, never mind these Jobsworths, let's have them installed throughout the country.

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  3. I detect an April 1st Leg-pull!

    Since when have teenagers been repelled by loud irritating noises?

    The are the ones that make them and pay money to buy recordings of them!

    It also fails under the 'Too good to be true test'

    But you had me going for a while

    ;-)

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  4. Oswald, it is not a leg pull.

    Ken

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  5. Anonymous9:42 PM

    Before this thig came around the guy who owns the shop was just going to use a tannoy to play loud classical music at them. Fantastic Idea though.

    Apparently they're working on a much, much more powerful one that can be attatched to a panic button to get rid of the little gits when they come inside shops and cause trouble.

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  6. Anonymous12:18 AM

    Used to have something simlar to warn off cats from the garden. Seemed to work to an extent. Intermittent sound generated.

    After a few months the pitch seemed to drop a little and the wife complained she could hear it - she does seem to have hearing sensitivity.

    Anyway it disappeared - dustbin I think.

    Was much less that 600 quid though.

    I suspect that the premise of the device is faulty though. Hearing is not that consistent throughout the population.

    Grant

    Grant

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  7. I thought it was another April fools joke!

    This one at: http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/archives/013640.html

    Got a few people going- Labour cutting taxes- yeah, right...

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  8. Anonymous5:10 PM

    I'm entirely in favour of punsishing people for committing criminal acts, but to punish them merely for being 'young in a shop' is just daft.

    Ken, you let yourself down by appearing to support such crap.

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  9. Anom

    The shop in question has endured a lot of problems with youths congregating outside, hassling customers and coming into the shop and being abusive.

    I don't think the Mosquito constitutes a disproportionate response.

    Ken

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  10. Anonymous5:44 PM

    If you're a teenager and you just want to use the shop you'll be fine. It's designed so you can't hear it inside the shop and it's bearable when you're outside the shop as long as you're not hanging round for ages.

    Also the thing can be attatched to a switch under the shopkeeper's desk so he can choose to only turn it on when he wants to disperse the crowd.

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  11. Anonymous7:35 PM

    if you want to get rid of teenagers just start playin beethoven
    but then you'd have the problem of oap's but you can bribe them away with extra naptime

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  12. Uh...you DO know that any baby,toddler and child CAN hear the Mosquito?

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  13. If I see one of those things again I will whack it off its goddamned perch and set it alight instantaneously. I'm 12 by the way. YOU,David do not know what it is like having a Mosquito device buzz at you as if saying:Go away. Your kind are not welcome here.

    ReplyDelete