Summary

Commentary

The UK has a long history of trying to curb anti-social behavior, especially among teens. Recent failed attempts include the oh-so-popular Mosquito device aimed at annoying teens with noises in ranges adults do not hear. Of course, students turned the noise into a ringtone to avoid detection of cell phone activity while among adults.

This more recent attempt claims high success (50% reduction) in deterring student misbehavior and consists of and hour of listening to Mozart, Verdi or Bach in addition to public shaming. Additionally, students have to watch a DVD on mathematics and spend half and hour writing about what they have learned.

Meta

This seems like it will have negative consequences for the Arts in the future. It's hard enough to get people to appreciate classical music; this policy just reinforces the notion that classical music is boring or torturous.

See Also

• Weaponizing Mozart at Reason Magazine for a longer discussion.

• Bach to basics regime deters school troublemakers at Classissima for information about the school's efforts.

• Calls to ban 'anti-teen' device at BBC News for a discussion of The Mosqiuto.