Are you too old for this ring tone?

[detn8r]

You may have heard of this back in July, but it was only brought to my attention this evening and I just had to share.

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Students are using a new ring tone to receive messages in class — and many teachers can't even hear the ring.

Some students are downloading a ring tone off the Internet that is too high-pitched to be heard by most adults. With it, high schoolers can receive text message alerts on their cell phones without the teacher knowing.

As people age, many develop what's known as aging ear — a loss of the ability to hear higher-frequency sounds.

Can you hear it? Click here for a 10-second demonstration.

The ring tone is a spin-off of technology that was originally meant to repel teenagers — not help them. A Welsh security company developed the tone to help shopkeepers disperse young people loitering in front of their stores while leaving adults unaffected. The company called their product the "Mosquito."

Donna Lewis, a teacher in Manhattan, says her colleague played the ring for a classroom of first-graders — and all of them could hear it, while the adults couldn't hear anything.

Source: A New Ring Tone Teachers Can't Hear, Some Students Are Using A High-Frequency Ring Tone In Class - CBS News

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So what do you think? Oreo, PolarbearNPR, can YOU hear it?!

[Nessa]

Ha ha, my brother made me feel old with this. I kept thinking maybe my speakers weren't working since i couldn't hear anything, yet he insists he can. So i put it to the test..... I made him go lay on the bed and turn his head away from the computer and close his eyes. He then had to tell me when he could hear it and when he couldn't hear it (hence if i put play or pause). Well he did an EXCELLENT job at telling me exactly when i'd put pause or play. I then tried the same, but still could not hear or even begin to try to hear what the heck i'm suppose to hear. (Even after having my brother explain to me what i'm suppose to be hearing).

For reference, i'm 20 about to turn 21 in 3 days, and he's 12.

So maybe my hearing is just bad..... or i'm a very old 20 year old!

But thanks for this det, it was interesting, and has me completely puzzled! :P

[Spike]

To me it's bogus. If the ringtone was engineered the way they say it was, I generated an 18-20KHz tone in Audacity and played it back. I could certainly hear it, but I also asked both my parents if they could (who are already in their early 50s). They said they could also hear it (and it was giving them a headache )

I don't believe a word of it, but there are some factors not taken into consideration. Things like... was the real ringtone engineered differently than what they say it is (just an 18KHz tone), or maybe cell phone speakers reproduce the tone in such a manner that this age/hearing bracket is actually the truth? I don't know, but for me (since I can't get it to work) I won't believe it.

[sarahtowny]

mmh well I am in my *cough cough* late 30's and I could hear it!

Just a good job I am not a teacher as kids would not have got away with it

[Oreo]

I am NOT that old and I could hear unfortunately quite well. They were playing it on the radio last summer and I was driving...I had to change the station so I did not crash. Luckily I stopped teaching before this tone came along...I don't want to hear that crap ever again...I hate that thing!

[PolarBearNPR]

Originally Posted by detn8r

So what do you think? Oreo, PolarbearNPR, can YOU hear it?!

Don't know what you're implying there, det , but I can hear that plain as day and I'm definitely older than my students. Of course, chronological age may not have as much to do with it as abusing your hearing. I've attended only a few concerts where my ears were ringing afterwards and never really listened to loud music on my headphones, but know of others my age whose hearing is much worse. Also, folks in the military or other 'loud' professions or activities may be more affected by hearing loss. Of course, teaching can be loud at times - heh.

I guess what I'm getting at here is, don't count on your teacher's age to determine whether or not the ringtone will be heard. And interestingly enough, we use all of our senses to assess whether students are paying attention. So . . . take my advice . . . when you're in class, pay attention, do your work, get the grades, and then go out and play.

[detn8r]

According to the original article, the sound was meant for people over the age of 30 not to hear it. So you don't really have to be THAT old.

Perhaps as Spike said, CBS News was using a frequency that everyone SHOULD have heard.

[Jeff]

Well I can't hear a damned thing. Young whipper-snappers.

[PolarBearNPR]

Originally Posted by detn8r

the sound was meant for people over the age of 30 not to hear it. So you don't really have to be THAT old.

Ah - nice recovery there det I am just a bit over 30 ya know. And Jeff . . . "whipper-snappers"? Dude, you're showing your age, and you're just 8 months older than me . . . so quit it! You may be one of those that damaged your hearing - too much head-banging, walkman-wearing, girls screaming in your ears . . . takes a toll on your hearing.

[sarahtowny]

Originally Posted by PolarBearNPR

too much head-banging, walkman-wearing, girls screaming in your ears . . . takes a toll on your hearing.

Yeah he has me screaming in his ears alllll the time all I do is nag nag nag no surprise his ears were numb! lol