This buzz is not about the hottest celebrity gossip making the headlines today, nor is it about the newest club giving free shots of your choice of liquor. The “buzz” that we're talking about here is supposed to be taken literally, and if you're guessing that it has something to do with sound, then you're right.



The latest “teen buzz” in town goes by the name “Mosquitone”. It's the latest addition to the long list of downloadable ringing tones on the internet, and is doing quite well among teenagers today—so well that it has been alternatively named as the “teen buzz”.

Curious?

The creator of this special sound is Howard Stapleton, a local entrepreneur from the United Kingdom. Teenagers have been his biggest problem back in his hometown as they have been lurking around his shop day and night. Through ingenuity and innovation, he was able to make a solution to his long-time problem: he made a sound that only teenagers could hear and adults could not (the sound has the same frequency like that of a mosquito's buzz, hence, the name). As a person gets older, the quality of his/her hearing declines. Mr. Stapleton took advantage of this natural phenomenon and upon experimenting with his own kids, he was able to device the perfect solution to shoo away the kids in his shop.

The sound is not at all deafening to the ears, however, those who could hear it (the teenagers for this matter), find it irritating, hence, they flee.

But, if you think Howard Stapleton is a genius, then so are the kids who devised a way to make this sound beneficial for them (ironically, it was made against them, not for them). They made it into a ringtone and downloaded it into their respective phones.

Perhaps you ask, “What's wrong with that?” Today, it poses a very big problem among schools (both High School and College) due to the fact that kids have taken advantage of this new technology. Since adults cannot hear the said sound, kids who hear this mosquito ringtone in their mobile phones have the freedom to send and receive text messages, wherever and whenever they wish to. It is a fact that mobile phones are not allowed during class hours, but with the kids' creativity, not even school rules can stop them from using their gadgets to communicate with others. But aside from the issue of mobile phones as a source of distraction, the mosquito ringtone poses a threat to schools regarding the issue of cheating. Since teenagers can communicate with others without the knowledge of their teachers (assuming that the teachers are not within their age group), sending a text message to the person in front of you, asking for the answer to question number 21, has never been this easy.

Indeed, technology has proven itself to be beneficial to the human race, (mainly teens and early 20 year olds), but the ironic part is that it was first conceived to drive teens away, now it is quickly becoming the must have Ringtone for teens.