We’ve come up with a simple online hearing test to check your ears’ ability to hear the Mosquito Ringtone. Try out the hearing test and see the results, we tried to be humerous when we came up with the various results that may appear!

Here is a sample of the results from the test:

Try it out and put the results badge on your profile or blog!

What do you think of the audio test?

We decided not to include the very upper end range of the ultrasonic frequencies in our hearing test, if you want to check your hearing on tones above 18khz, please see the full list of Teen Buzz, the Ultrasonic Mosquito Ringtones.

The Children’s Commissioner launched the buzz off campaign and with the help of The Liberty group won a small victory last week by getting the Kent County Council to ban the mosquito devices from buildings in its jurisdiction. They started the Buzz Off campaign in February 2008. They soon hope to get a similar law passed by the government and prevent the use of the Mosquito in everywhere in England.

According to this BBC Article, 3500 mosquito devices are in use throughout England.

This really doesn’t affect the use of teen buzz, the mosquito ringtone but, it’s interesting to see that even many adults are appalled by the use of such a device even when they can’t hear it.

I could certainly go on and debate the issues involved with the device but this site is about the teen buzz ringtone a.k.a. the mosquito ringtone.

A common argument against the use of the mosquito ringtone has always been, ‘why not just set your phone to vibrate?’ Often the name of this setting is labeled “silent.” Unfortunately, from my experience and from the experiences of many of my friends, the vibrate setting is anything but silent. Particularly in the classroom setting where the environment tends to be very quiet, the loud buzzing of a vibrating phone can be heard pretty clearly. In the middle of a test or a lecture the pressure of the phone against another object in a bag, on a desk, or even in a pocket can create an easily identifiable buzzing sound that adults most definitely can hear. The mosquito ringtone is an almost guaranteed promise that the only ones that will be hearing your phone are you and your classmates. Even if the mosquito ringtone can be heard by a teacher chances are he/she won’t realize that it’s coming from a phone. It sounds more like a timer or a watch going off. Whereas if the teacher happens to hear the loud buzzing of your vibrating phone, their going to know exactly what it’s coming from. Am I the only one who has experienced getting caught with their phone on vibrate? I don’t trust it!

The “teen buzz” mosquito ringtone began as a device used for purposes quite different than the ones teens use today for ‘silently’ transmitting text messages and receiving phone calls in class. In fact, if it hadn’t been for the development of this high pitched frequency for mobile phone ringtones, our youth would probably have a much more negative outlook on the noise. The teen buzz mosquito ringtone actually began as a security device to keep teens away from shops and restaurants. Developed by Howard Stapleton, the mosquito ringtone, originally called “Mosquito Teen Repeller” was initially used to repel teens from the problem areas in England. Since adults couldn’t typically hear the buzz, shopkeepers played the buzz to sweep away pesky, loitering teenagers. The Mosquito Teen Repeller caught on and proved a successful tool for shopkeepers as the noise became too annoying for teens to handle.

Now, while the Teen Repeller may have proved helpful to shopkeepers looking for a less crowded storefront, it certainly did not help bridge any gaps between the youth and older generations. This “pest repellent” tended to make teenagers feel like insignificant, contemptible mosquitoes! (as the name so kindly puts it.) After all, teenagers make up a great percentage of the consumer market; it only seems logical that they should be treated with the same kind of respect and courtesy as anyone else. It is no wonder then that teens developed a way to use this very weapon for their own devices. It is not certain who first found a way to use this noise on cell phones, but teenagers definitely ran with the idea, sending text messages to one another and receiving calls in class unbeknownst to their teachers. Whether this usage can be called a rebellion, or a cruel manipulation, I think it’s appropriate to say what goes around comes around!

Most of my kids friends’ know that I run this website, one of the kids told me an interesting story behind the reason he uses the Mosquito Ringtone. It happens to be one of the most different and unique reasons I have heard, for which I was unaware of before this.

Like most teenagers, he likes to listen to loud music in his room, especially when doing his homework and when doing so cannot hear when his phone is ringing if he is using a normal cell phone ringtone. If he uses a mosquito ringtone it seems to cut through the music and can clearly hear his phone ringing. At first I was skeptical of this but after testing it out with some of the lower frequency tones that I am still able to hear I was able to confirm this.

So next time you want to turn up the volume in your room or when you’re driving and you still want to hear your cell phone ringing, switch your ringtone to the teen buzz ultrasonic mosquito ringtone. If anyone out there can explain the science behind why this is possible or point me in the right direction, please let me know!