A typical classroom prank: someone plays a ringtone only people under 25 years old can hear while the teacher remains clueless.  But now adults have turned the trick on the teenagers.

The “mosquito noise” device emits a obnoxious, high-pitched sound only younger age groups can hear.  As a person ages, they are less able to hear this high-frequency noise.  Western Development, which owns shops outside of the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro station, installed this device in August to ward off teenage loiterers and violence.

This new system is not only ineffective, but it creates a disturbance for teenagers who ride the Metro without causing violence.

Instead, Western Development, should request for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and D.C. police to position security officers outside the station so law-abiding passengers of the Metro and patrons at Gallery Place aren’t bothered.

When asked why the device was installed and what effect it has had, Western Development refused to comment. WMATA didn’t install the device used in front of their escalator, said Steven Taub, their public information officer.

The device has done nothing to keep teenage loiterers out.  This area of D.C. is constantly flooded with teenagers, some of whom have a tendency to be violent, said Alison Reardon.  But even if teenagers are bothered by the noise, there has been no change in the amount of kids that spend their time outside the Metro stop.  An AT&T store manager at the Gallery Place station said that he had not seen the device have any effect on violent teenagers.  The kids who are standing around the station are probably too loud to even hear the noise, a WMATA worker said.

I took the Metro to Gallery Place myself on a Wednesday afternoon at a time when the Metro is most crowded with teenagers going home from school.  There were 15-20 teenagers outside the station talking amongst themselves by the escalators, which made for a crowded space.  The mosquito noise was audible once every three minutes. It was loud and obnoxious, but none of the kids seemed to be bothered by it and none left because of it. Some of them couldn’t even hear it and were oblivious to the fact that it had been installed.

After the violence had become a serious problem, two policemen were stationed inside the Metro station, WMATA worker said.  But outside, where most teenagers spend their time, there was not one policeman in sight.

The current use of prevention is futile and not reaching its targeted audience.  A police officer standing on the outside of Gallery Place would do more to prevent violent incidents and fix loitering problems than a high-pitched annoyance.