Torturing Teenagers
The Mosquito would have come in handy at the Hippy Dippy in Salem, Oregon where I liked to kick my heels up with a good book and a cup of coffee, scribble in my journal or simply hang out with my friends. The coffee wasn’t exactly gourmand and the ice tea was strained through gym socks, but it was a great place to hang out…except for the damn teenagers. And I like kids. But in groups of 2 or more free from parental supervision they can be unruly, obnoxious and quite disrespectful of the other people around them and personal property.
Then there is the issue of money. They don’t have any. Those that do are too busy babysitting or slinging hamburgers to loiter with their less ambitious friends at the local coffee shop or street corner. Why is money an issue? Because they are generally loitering in or near places of business and if you hang out long enough without buying anything you are no longer window shopping you are a nuisance.
Loitering is against the law in many places. Having laws in place to protect business owners and patrons from loiterers is not a violation of civil rights, especially if you are 16 years old. However, I am pretty sure The Mosquito is.
Certain public places such as parks are fine for people who just want to idle a way few hours alone or with a group of friends. A street corner filled with commuters, shoppers and business owners is not. No one’s civil rights are being violated if you are asked to move on. A business owner has the right to refuse service to any patron they choose, for whatever reason (as long as it isn’t due to skin color, gender, orientation, religion etc.).
If a person is not buying anything or looks as if they aren’t a business owner is free to ask them to leave. Teenagers cannot claim that they don’t have any rights; by comparison to their grandparents - many who grew up in the 1950’s - they have plenty of rights. In fact children are a lot more emancipated then ever before and one can make a pretty convincing argument that sometimes this creates a problem.
However, loitering laws and people who become a nuisance should be handled by law enforcement not by devises such as The Mosquito which are really a mild form of torture. Let’s also not forget that while teenagers may find it annoying and troubling babies will find it intolerable.
Not all teenagers are punks either. During my hanging out years at the Hippy Dippy I met many who were honest, enthusiastic, idealistic, intelligent and talented. They bought coffee and blended drinks too. Some were talking with their friends quietly and respectfully while others read, did homework, sketched on drawing pads or scribbled lines of deathless prose and angsty poetry. Some even sat outside strumming their guitars and trying to look…well…cool. The Teen years are difficult. I would rather die then ever be a hormonal teenager again.
One of the ways to train teenagers to be responsible adults is to allow them an opportunity to try it out. They will make mistakes, they will disappoint and they will get in trouble. But they will also surprise you too. Treating them like animals to be run off will only fuel the fires of anger that are already burning too deeply in some of them as it is and that only creates trouble.
The Mosquito is just another way in which technology is being used to dehumanize us further. It is also torture. Torture is anytime that physical, emotional or psychological pain is inflicted on another in an attempt to bend them to your will. That is what the use of the Mosquito is. What’s next, waterboarding?
The Mosquito is something out the Bush Administration’s playbook for dealing with unlawful combatants. The company that manufactures this product also has a version of it for government use.
We live in a throwaway culture where things not deemed useful are discarded. We do this to people and our prisons and mental hospitals are filled with such people. People will only rise to the highest expectations you have of them.