Originally designed as a security system to repel groups of teenagers hanging around shopping centres, the Mosquitotone is the ring tone which gives teachers nightmares. Produced by Welsh company Compound Security Systems, the original alarms used a high pitch (17 kilohertz) noise that can’t be heard by most people older than 20. Students have flocked to buy the ring tone in the UK, US, Australia and several other markets.
Many teachers worry that companies are producing technology that undermines their authority, but as the makers of Mosquitotone point out, students can already turn their phones onto silent or vibrate if they want to avoid teachers hearing their ring tone.
