Youth Punished For Loitering Because They Have Nothing Else To Do

A noisemaker called the “Mosquito” was recently installed in Washington, DC’s Chinatown neighborhood which emits an obnoxious high-pitched sound targeting the hearing range of 13-25 year-olds. The Mosquito was installed in response to local shopkeepers’ complaints that fights, theft, and drug dealings related to the loitering were deterring shoppers. Shortly after its implementation, the National Youth Rights Association filed a complaint against the city citing youth discrimination, and the Mosquito has since been removed.

The true stupidity in this strategy isn’t just that youth who aren't loitering would potentially be affected, or that cruel and unusual side effects of the Mosquito include headaches and nausea. It's that the Mosquito doesn’t actually address the issue of loitering.

Youth frequently loiter because they simply have nothing better to do. When the school day ends, underprivileged communities especially tend to lack organized out-of-school time activities, leaving young people to their own devices. Even if stricter anti-loitering laws were passed, it wouldn’t change the fact that the loitering is occurring because these kids haven’t been provided with alternative ways to spend their time. Logically speaking, pushing people out of one neighborhood will only move them to the next neighborhood—but why would we ever use logic to address social issues?

Dave Moss, director of development and operations for the National Youth Rights Association, agreed in a blog post earlier this month. "Chinatown is full of things that young people can’t do," he says of the popular DC neighborhood. "You can’t go into the bars if you’re under 21. You can’t sit on the steps of the Portrait Gallery and chat with your friends. You can’t sit on a bench in the Gallery Place Plaza." What needs to happen, he writes, is simple: "...Let’s give them some place they can go."

If Jack Evans, the DC Council member for that particular neighborhood who approved the use of the Mosquito, is truly serious about deterring youth from loitering, he should have recommended that the Mosquito funding be used create new out-of-school time activities for such targeted youth. Support the local non-profit DC Jobs with Justice, which is actively fighting against any legislation that would limit access to public spaces in D.C., and talk to people in your own communities about other solutions to supporting youth. You can also sign the National Youth Rights Association petition at Change.org, telling D.C. to look for other, more effective, ways to fight youth crime.

Photo Credit: tanakawho