# Is this story real about teens using cell tones only they (not adults) can hear? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 12, 2006, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456 "2006-06-12T18:49:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/1 "2006-06-12T18:49:26Z")
Or is this BS? [Teens Turn ‘Repeller’ into Adult-Proof Ringtone](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5434687) > [@](#): > > The war between teens and authority figures has a new – or old – front: ears. British shopkeepers tired of teenage loiterers have turned to the Mosquito teen repellent, which emits a high-pitch frequency that most teenagers can hear – but not most adults. > > But now teens have struck back against the Mosquito: They are using the same sound to communicate without adults’ knowledge. > > At issue is a text-message ringtone that emits the same pitch as the Mosquito. Using it, students can learn about a new message while they’re in class – where they’re not supposed to be using their cellphones. Most of their teachers can’t hear the alert. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/2 "2006-06-12T18:50:57Z")
The guy in the cube next to me was just talking about this. His son has done this, and my co-worker cannot hear the ring tone. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/3 "2006-06-12T18:55:08Z")
I just did the hearing test. My God that’s a high tone! I have reasonably good hearing, but I can _just_ barely hear it unless my ear is positioned just right next to the speaker. It’s very directional (to me). It’s almost like I feel it in my head rather than hear it. Weird! ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/4 "2006-06-12T18:57:22Z")
NYT article: [A Ring Tone Meant to Fall on Deaf Ears](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/technology/12ring.html?ex=1307764800&en=2b80d159770dc8df&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss) > [@](#): > > an ear-splitting 17-kilohertz buzzer [The tone itself](http://graphics.nytimes.com/packages/audio/nyregion/20060610_RINGTONE.mp3) Oww! Still, for me it’s probaly just my crappy speakers resonating at a lower frequency that my ancient ears can still detect. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/5 "2006-06-12T18:59:25Z")
Now I’m freaking out! I can hear it much better in my left ear than right ear. Is my right ear compromised? I do clean substantially more ear wax out of my right ear canal than left ear. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/6 "2006-06-12T19:03:11Z")
Previous thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=373003](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=373003) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/7 "2006-06-12T19:30:54Z")
For once I don’t quite feel so old. I’m forty, but I could clearly hear it. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/8 "2006-06-12T19:31:58Z")
That’s annoying in the same way a TV left on but muted is annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/9 "2006-06-12T20:16:00Z")
Couldn’t hear squat. My kitty did though, tried it several times under different curmstances. Old Fart reporting. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/10 "2006-06-12T20:16:02Z")
I can hear it, but dang is that ANNOYING! I can’t imagine having a ringtone that sounds like that. =/ ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/11 "2006-06-12T20:24:51Z")
Heh. _sends a high pitched signal to the other youngins_ _The old fogeys have discovered our secret signal. I repeat, the secret signal has been compromised. Activate the Messenger Ferrets_ ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/12 "2006-06-12T20:32:11Z")
I can hear it, but not well enough to use it as any kind of alert. I wouldn’t notice it. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/13 "2006-06-12T21:15:21Z")
That’s a good point. If I heard it, I wouldn’ think it was a ringtone. On the other hand, the sample in the New York Times sounded continuously and a ringtone, presumably, wouldn’t. But why don’t they just put their phones on vibrate instead? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/14 "2006-06-12T22:35:06Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > For once I don’t quite feel so old. I’m forty, but I could clearly hear it. Yay me! I’m nearly 39 and I can hear it quite distinctly. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard higher-pitched tones than that too. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/15 "2006-06-12T22:38:00Z")
I’m nearly 39 too, and I didn’t hear shit. Therefore I think the whole thing is a hoax. Or my sound card is not up to it. Or any excuse at all to try to pretend I’m not as old as I am. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/16 "2006-06-12T22:45:02Z")
Ok, I take everything back. I just clicked the sound link in this thread and heard it fine, so I don’t feel so old now. We’re talking about different things: [this is the original ‘sound’](http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/audio/mosquito_sound.mp3) that started the whole brouhaha, and I can’t hear anything at all apart from background ambience. Others, younger than I, have reported hearing a ridiculously high-pitched pulsing over the top of it. ---
**Author:** ![Malice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/278dde/32.png) [@Malice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malice)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/17 "2006-06-12T22:50:53Z")
39 here, and OW! It’s like a electrified pin jabbing me in the eardrums. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/18 "2006-06-12T22:54:09Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Ok, I take everything back. I just clicked the sound link in this thread and heard it fine, so I don’t feel so old now. We’re talking about different things: [this is the original ‘sound’](http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/audio/mosquito_sound.mp3) that started the whole brouhaha, and I can’t hear anything at all apart from background ambience. Others, younger than I, have reported hearing a ridiculously high-pitched pulsing over the top of it. Nearly 42 years old, I heard both of them. The “real sound” _is_ ridiculously high-pitched and it pulsed in & out. Both of them hurt my head more than actually caused a sound. Like Chris Reeves in Superman, with Lex Luthor’s dog whistle. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/19 "2006-06-12T22:58:21Z")
Yay **BMax** , you prompted me to turn the volume up way higher than before, and finally I heard it. This is about the 25th listen, too. I’m no longer middle aged! I rejoin the ranks of youth. And it’s a very irritating noise, too. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456/20 "2006-06-12T23:07:09Z")
40, and I can still hear it. There was a story about it on the news this morning; some South Bay 7-11’s were using it to keep teenagers from loitering in front of the stores. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-real-about-teens-using-cell-tones-only-they-not-adults-can-hear/360456.md?page=2)