Robert Hampton

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12th February 2008

The Latest Buzz
Posted by at 1.10pm | In the News | No responses

There are calls to scrap the “Buzz off” device which plays a high-pitched sound which only children and teenagers can hear, to discourage them from hanging around in gangs.

I must confess I was ignorant about these devices until now, but there was a report on Radio 4 this morning about them this morning which horrified me. The reporter spoke to children in a playground near to where one of these has been set up. One said he lived in a flat next to the shops and the noise kept him awake all night. Another said it hurt his ears.

Read that again. We as a society are deliberately installing devices that hurt and disturb children.

But hey, they’re kids: they must all be hoodies, they must be yobs. The Daily Mail told me about this generation of feral children. They must be stopped at all costs, right? Wrong.

We are indiscriminately punishing every child and teenager for the actions of a (admittedly problematic) minority. And nobody, except perhaps the Richard Littlejohns and Pete Prices of this world, can call that justice.

The Children’s Commissioner’s BUZZ OFF page has more information.