The Daily Telegraph - 24.07.2019

The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 24 July 2019 *** 9

Ban anti-loitering lights that

reveal acne, says children’s tsar

By Charles Hymas
HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR

PINK lights used to disperse young
people from public places by highlight-
ing their acne and anti-loitering sonic
sirens that only children can hear
should be banned, says the Children’s
Commissioner for England.
Anne Longfield told The Daily Tele-
graph the devices were “cruel and de-
meaning” as it emerged that increasing
numbers are being deployed by coun-
cils, businesses and residents to dis-
perse groups of young children
congregating in public.
Campaigners and charities say the
pink light, which accentuates facial
blemishes, preys on teenagers’ worst
adolescent fears, while “Mosquito” si-
rens, which emit pulses of sound that
only under-25s can hear, are now being
deployed in parks.
There is no regulation on the issuing
of either pink lights or sirens, which
means there are no records of how

widely they are used. Campaigners

used Freedom of Information laws to

uncover the use of such devices in ar-

eas of Scotland despite councils claim-

ing they had not been deployed.

The Children’s Commissioner said:

“Mosquito alarms are aggressive and

unpleasant devices which specifically

target children.

“I have also been told by children

about the use of pink lights, which play

on the worst adolescent fears and inse-

curities about image and looks. Both of

these ‘anti-loitering’ tools are cruel and

demeaning and should be banned.”

Her comments follow similar de-

mands by Bruce Adamson, the Chil-

dren’s Commissioner in Scotland,

where campaigners have forced Scot

Rail to remove mosquito devices from

train stations.

A poll found one in seven children

(15 per cent) had experienced anti-loi-

tering devices.

Compound Security Systems, which

launched the Mosquito in 2006, says it

sells up to 50 a month in the UK and up

to 150 worldwide to multinationals,

betting firms, fast food companies,

councils and householders plagued by

anti-social behaviour.

Simon Morris, director of the secu-

rity firm, said “We are seeing increas-

ing numbers being used in parks.

“This is just a benign, non-confron-

tational, safe way to get kids to move

on. You use it once or twice and at that

point the kids have got the message

and they will disperse.”

He also disclosed that the company

is due to launch an updated version of

the alarm that can run off a 12-volt bat-

tery. This would enable the devices to

be deployed in a wider range of areas.

Cadbury aims to hit

the sweet spot with

diet Dairy Milk

CADBURY has launched a diet Dairy

Milk chocolate bar in the first recipe

change since 1905, with low-sugar Jelly

Babies and Oreos to follow.

A new version of the classic bar con-

taining 30 per cent less sugar goes on

sale today as part of industry efforts to

respond to the obesity crisis.

Mondelēz International, the Cad-

bury owner, has described the new bar

as the “most significant innovation in

the brand’s history”.

The new product comes as the com-

pany is planning similar sugar reduc-

tions for other sweet treats, such as the

Oreo chocolate bar and Jelly Babies.

The new Dairy Milk bar will sit along-

side the original on shop shelves and of-

fers consumers greater choice and helps

them manage their sugar intake, the

company said. But while the sugar con-

tent has dropped, from 56g per 100g in

the original bar to 39g per 100g in the

new version, the calorie content re-

mains similar between the two bars.

A team of 20 scientists, nutritionists

and chocolatiers worked for three

years at the firm’s Reading and Bourn-

ville facilities to cut sugar without add-

ing any artificial sweeteners, colours or

preservatives.

An F for man

who proposed

at his fiancee’s

graduation

By Izzy Lyons

FOR most women, a marriage proposal
is a memory that they will cherish for
the rest of their life.
But when Agne Banuskeviciute said
yes to her husband-to-be while on
stage at her graduation ceremony, it re-
sulted in a Twitter storm that threat-
ened to overshadow the couple’s
romantic milestone.
Edgaras Averbuchas, 27, was ac-
cused of “bad form” after he proposed
to his girlfriend of nine years as she was
receiving her master’s degree in Eng-
lish from the University of Essex.
The gesture, which was filmed and
posted online to celebrate their en-
gagement, prompted an angry re-
sponse from feminists who accused
him of “hijacking” her special day be-
cause he is “threatened by her intel-
lect”.
Despite the 25-year-old’s joy at the
marriage proposal, Essex University
has decided to remove the clip from its
website because of the heavy criticism
it has received.
Dr Jana Bacevic, a research associate

in sociology at the University of Cam-

bridge, wrote on Twitter: “Imagine be-

ing a man and feeling so threatened by

a woman’s intellectual success that you

have to force her to frame her identity/

agency in relation to you on the very

day she is being celebrated for her in-

tellect.

“Oh wait, that’s, like, 99.9 per cent

men.”

Aisha Ali-Khan, a core organiser of

the Women’s March on London, said it

“smacked of egotism”.

“This does not bode well for the rela-

tionship,” she said. “When someone

craves such public attention and adula-

tion all the time, there can only be

space for one person and their ego in

that relationship.”

Rebecca Reid, a writer, criticised the

public nature of the proposal in an arti-

cle for Grazia magazine.

“The chances are that this couple are

very much in love, and that she was de-

lighted with the proposal,” she wrote.

“But what was she supposed to do if

she’d wanted to say no? Break his heart

in front of an entire auditorium full of

strangers?

“Hijacking a big moment with some-

thing sweet or well intentioned doesn’t

make it OK. Just because something is

sweet or well intended doesn’t mean

that it is appropriate.”

Another Twitter user complained:

“Years of hard work and now we’re all

Backlash as boyfriend is

accused of ‘hijacking’

partner’s special day by

popping the question

News

supposed to be pleased for her. Not be-

cause of her achievement, but because

she got her man. Bad form.”

However, the Lithuanian couple,

who met as teenagers at secondary

school in their home town of Vilnius,

rejected the suggestion that the ges-

ture was outdated, with Miss Banuske-

viciute saying she was “extremely

happy” with the “amazing proposal”.

“That’s so strange that Edgaras was

getting a lot of criticism from people. I

think that this day became even more

beautiful with this proposal,” she said.

“I remember myself standing on the

stage. I was a little bit nervous, but ex-

tremely happy.

“Then, all of a sudden I saw Edgaras

coming, but everything happened so

quickly that it took me some time to

understand what actually happened.

“He knelt on one knee and asked me

to marry him. I was in so much shock

and of course I said yes. Everyone

cheered and it was an amazing pro-

posal which truly took me by surprise.”

UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX/TRIANGLE NEWS

‘Happy’ Agne

Banuskeviciute is

surprised at the

criticism of her

fiancé, Edgaras

Averbuchas, who

proposed to her at

her graduation

ceremony, top left

Students turn to eBay as they

bid farewell to summer jobs

By Camilla Turner EDUCATION EDITOR

A TYPICAL summer job might once
have been pulling pints in a local pub,
babysitting or temping in an office.
But it appears that eBay is the new
bar job, as a survey found that the most
popular way for university students to
earn money over the long vacation is
buying and selling clothes online.
Over half (51 per cent) of students
said that this is how they make money
during the summer holidays, according
to a poll of over 3,000 undergraduates
by the tutoring company Tutor House.
There are now a number of mobile
phone apps (such as Depop, Vinted
and Preloved) for buying and selling
second-hand clothes, meaning
students can make money with just a
simple trip to the Post Office.
Hospitality or bar work was the
second most popular option, with 43
per cent of students opting for this.
Meanwhile, almost a third of students
(30 per cent) said that they earned
money from tutoring.
Other methods to make money over
the summer included dog walking, fill-
ing out online surveys and “sharing
economy” jobs such as working for the

ride-sharing app Uber or the food

delivery service Deliveroo.

One in 10 students said they do not

work at all over the summer, and of

those, almost all (96 per cent) received

money from their parents to fund their

lifestyle. The head of the university

regulator has previously said that

students need to work during their

summer holidays if they want to get a

job when they graduate.

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of

the Office for Students, said last year

that undergraduates need to make the

most of their long holidays by

undertaking work placements or

internships.

This will improve their employabil-

ity and increase the likelihood of

securing a “rewarding” job once they

graduate, she added.

51pc

Proportion of university students who are

planning to make money this summer by

buying and selling clothes online

‘The pink lights play on the

worst adolescent fears

and insecurities about

image and looks’

Jana Bacevic

@Jana_bacevic

Imagine being a man and feeling so threatened by

a woman’s intellectual success that you *have* to

force her to frame her identity/agency in relation to

*you* on the very day she is being celebrated for

her intellect

Oh wait, that’s, like, 99.9% men

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