Eternal Struggle

I first heard about the Mosquito Teen Repellent on NPR a long time ago and was again reminded of it by the Education Wonks yesterday.

At the time I first read and heard about it I thought it was funny, one of my kids brought it up in class during a current event discussion and we all had a laugh. I had visions of Chewbacca in his Bespin torture cell, only with baggy pants and a wallet chain. Then a few weeks ago I heard a bit, again on NPR, about some cheeky English kids who have turned this weapon against its aged creators. They have fashioned a ring tone using the same sound that only kids and young adults who have yet to blow their ears out of their heads at concerts or with headphones can hear. Seriously, this is so cool! I would have been all over this in school. I can hear the tone, but I am sure that with computers, the air conditioner and my yapper going I would never hear the tone in class.
I LOVE that students will find a way to beat the system no matter what, even if it only works until we old folks find a way to shut it down. Last year it was TV remote, watches that had (especially the older) teachers all in a tizzy. TVs were turning on and off all over school. We had to e-mail pics of what they looked like so that teachers would see them coming and some STILL didn’t get it. This kind of battle between students and teachers is a classic old folks V young’uns. It’s not going away because it is eternal. When this generation gets older it’ll be something else and I think it’s awesome.