A Classical Reaction

Waitakere City has been using classical music to deter vandals and loitering youth, driving them away from a local transit hub with remarkable success. Bob Harvey, mayor of Waitakere, says there has been no defacing or damaging of art works and sculptures in the area since the music was switched on. “We have been playing … Mozart, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, and a dash of Dame Kiri,” says Harvey, adding “it’s probably Dame Kiri that does it, but (young vandals) don’t stay around long.” Officials in Christchurch are planning to follow suit, preparing to play some Barry Manilow in a central shopping plaza, in order to deter aggressive youth. After all, “if its not your music, and you really don’t like it all, why would you, how could you, stay around?”