Friday nights are always a problem in my settlement. We have dozens and dozens of teenagers who roam the streets of our neighborhood to socialize, congregate, and just do the "teenage" hang out thing. They are all great kids, and there's nothing inappropriate about their behavior at all...except the noise. With such large groups of kids, its impossible to get any Shabbat sleep till midnight when the kids wander back to their homes. It seems like I was a teenager only yesterday, but when the noise level is so loud that it keeps neighbors awake, we have a problem.
Our neighborhood email list often discusses this issue, with all sorts of creative solutions. The most obvious is for parents to discuss the issue with their kids. One neighbor wanted to set their water sprinklers to automatically start on Friday night, in the direction of the street, to get rid of the noise. Yet another neighbor wanted to walk his ultra scary dogs out to the areas where the noisy kids hang out.
I always empathised with the people who couldn't sleep through the noise, even though I personally can sleep standing up oblivious to any cacophony arond me.
However, a high tech solution has been found to solve our problems! Better than the red-dawn incoming missile warning system. Better than the Arrow anti-scud missile system. Even better than the water sprinklers.
Someone sent me this today by email:
Someone sent me this today by email:
Rowdies buzz off as the Mosquito bites. (The anti teenager solution)
The device, called the Mosquito ("It's small and annoying," Mr Stapleton said), emits a high-frequency pulsing sound that he claims can be heard by most people younger than 20 and almost no one older than 30. The sound is designed to so irritate young people that after several minutes, they cannot stand it and go away.
Read more about this great device here
Sorry, Jameel, you're officially old (no, having kids doesn't make you old, but complaining about them whippersnappers does).
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, it's good that there's "nothing inappropriate about their behavior at all." We had an incident about half a year ago which culminated in a communal tragedy, where a local Anglo Chareidi (and Mashaz volunteer) was apparently threated by three "chareidi" teens + twenty-somethings, and shot them all. Without passing any judgement (other than careful use of quotation marks which slightly betray my bias), the fact that a situation like this could come up is itself quite tragic.
This thing sounds awesome -we have the same prblem where we live...
ReplyDeleteWhere can you buy one of these things...
How much do they cost?
Mike: I'm not complaining about them so much on my behalf, but more on behalf of my neighbors.
ReplyDeleteThen again, when kids played hockey outside our window and it kept the baby up, I would go out and yell at them! Hmmm...but now I play hockey as well on Saturday nights...and maybe I'm keeping other children awake.
What about your own kids, though? Won't this be a problem for them too?
ReplyDeleteMilhouse: My oldest is not into the "outside scene" -- and he knows our views of how important it is not to be loud outside.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when he doesn't clean up his room, this sounds like an interesting punishment...
Mirty: Its a trend everywhere for Friday night to be louder than it used to be. Living in a religious neighborhood, its not loud music partying or anything -- just LOUD talking and laughing.
ReplyDeleteI already posted the mosquito buzz thingy to my yishuv's email list, and people are desperate for more information on it.
Too bad I don't have the patent on it.
The device, called the Rabbi it emits a high-frequency pulsing sound that can be heard by most people younger than 120 and almost no one older . The sound is designed to so irritate young people that after several minutes, they cannot stand it and go away.
ReplyDeleteI thought you hadn't changed much, but I think that you (we) are officially old!!!
ReplyDeleteAmshin- that was too funny!
ReplyDeleteJameel can you get your rav to start giving a mussar shmooze all up and down the streets of your town on friday nights? Either the kids will pack it in or else they'll learn something.
KookyMDfriend: No way that we're old...can't be...
ReplyDeleteAm I in denial? I sure hope not.
Amshi and Shifra:
ReplyDeleteIn our shul on shabbat, since we had so many misheberach lecholim, the policy is for the rav to stand at the bima for misheberach locholim, and say, "We will now say one misheberach, and everyone should have in mind the name of the chole/cholim". He then reads the misheberach outloud and pauses for everyone to have in mind the name of the cholim.
My suggestion is that when it comes time for the Rav's speech, that he stands up and says: "Everyone should have in mind what dvar torah they want to hear...", and then he's quiet for a moment, says Shabbat Shalom, and sits down.
And a shabbat salaam to all our readers.