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A spirit that is not afraid

Phones Buzz With Mosquito Ringtone

A new ringtone comes with an odd caution. Warning: not to be used by those over the age of 25 or hard of hearing.

The mosquito ringtone plays at such a high frequency that only a younger age group can hear the ringing.

Andrew Golden, a junior in zoology, said he used the mosquito ringtone when he was in high school.

He said it actually worked. His teacher didn't even budge when his phone went off in the middle of math class.

"I thought it was freaking hilarious," Golden said. "All of my classmates were laughing so hard, my teacher had to calm us down."

Move over Soulja Boy and Green Day, because the mosquito ringtone is sucking up all the ringtone business.

According to streetdirectory.com, the mosquito ringtone, or Teen Buzz, is the new ringtone craze for the teens.

The mosquito ringtone uses high frequencies of 17 kHz, meaning people over the age of 25 wouldn't be able to hear the ringer.

According to thefuntimesguide.com, this is due to a condition called presbycusis, or aging ear, which means the majority of people cannot hear sounds over 13 or 14 kHz.

Teens finally had a way to be notified if they were receiving a text message or a phone call without their teachers knowing phones were going off during class, therefore avoiding disciplinary action.

This ringtone is a hit for teens, but would college students use it?

Laura Thomas, a junior in communication disorders, said she heard friends conversing about the anti-adult ringtone.

Her friends told her it actually does work, but Thomas still would not use the ringer.

"I like hearing my favorite songs going off on my phone," Thomas said. "I would rather hear a soothing song than some irritating beep. I'm already up in age and eventually I wouldn't be able to hear my own cell phone go off. That wouldn't be a good thing."

Some students may be skeptical of the ringtone, but it has been proven to work.

Although it would be a pain to find a professor can hear the quiet ringtone, rest assured the science is correct.

"I know for a fact that the mosquito ringer works, because I took an audiology course and we talked about different types of frequencies that some elderly people couldn't hear," said Claire Debellis, a junior in communication disorders.

Although she knows the ringtone is accurate, the mosquito ringtone is not what she prefers.

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"Personally I wouldn't use the mosquito ringtone," Debellis said. "I'm used to using music as ringtones, and if I'm in class I would just put my phone on vibrate. There is no need to alert the entire class if I have a phone call."

After reading the students thoughts on the mosquito ringtone, one would think it's not for the college students.

For students curious about the ringtone and testing their hearing online visit youtube.com, which has videos demonstrating the sound.

Simply search for "mosquito ringtone."

Students can test their hearing capabilities.

They can also decide if the ringtone is worth the trouble of downloading to their cell phones, in order to catch calls in class.

Professors can also test their hearing and find out if their students are really getting away with phone shenanigans during class.


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