p2pnet - rss feed: School Wi-Fi ‘radiation’ scares
p2pnet.net news:- Fred Gilbert, a Canadian school principal, achieved instant and unwanted fame when he vowed to ban Wi-Fi until he was sure EMF (electric and magnetic fields) don’t pose a health risk, “particularly to young people”.
And, “It’s obvious that holding a 1/4 watt microwave transmitter (yes, roughly the same frequency range MICROWAVE energy you use to COOK your lunch…) a fraction of an inch over the same patch of living brain tissue for several hours a week every week for years and years is going to eventually cause some problems,” says a p2pnet Reader’s Write, adding, “Better to wear them on your belt so they’re closer to your reproductive organs…”
Now a fuss in the UK over school Wi-Fi use has spread to New Zealand.
“Britain’s top health-protection watchdog wants the network, which emits radiation, to be full investigated because of the concern for students’ health,” says The New Zealand Herald, going on:
“Wi-Fi - described by the British Department of Education and Skills as a ‘magical’ system that means computers do not have to be connected to telephone lines - is being taken up rapidly in schools there, with estimates that more than half of primary schools - and four-fifths of secondary schools - have installed it. But some scientists have expressed fears it could cause cancer and premature senility.”
Sir William Stewart, chairman of the Health Protection Agency, “wants pupils to be monitored for ill effects from the networks - known as Wi-Fi - which emit radiation and are being installed in classrooms across the nation,” says Britain’s The Independent.
“Sir William - who is a former chief scientific adviser to the Government, and has chaired two official inquiries into the hazards of mobile phones - is adding his weight to growing pressure for a similar examination of Wi-Fi …”
Several European provincial governments have already taken action to ban, or limit, its use in the classroom, and Stowe School has partially removed it after a teacher became ill, says the story, continuing:
“This week the Professional Association of Teachers, which represents 35,000 staff across the country, will write to Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Education, to demand an official inquiry. Virtually no studies have been carried out into Wi-Fi’s effects on pupils, but it gives off radiation similar to emissions from mobile phones and phone masts.”
In New Zealand, the herlad has Net safety organisation NetSafe executive director Martin Cocker saying many primary and secondary schools use Wi-Fi and, “the present thinking was that the technology was safe.
But, “Obviously, if that’s not the case that’s going to be pretty alarming,” thed story quotes him as saying. “It would be of great concern to schools because they have really adopted the technology and many schools have extensive wireless networks.
“Most laptops now come with the capability to receive wireless signals built in. It’s a technology that is saturating the education and commercial markets.
“If there’s any indication that it has any negative effects then we would encourage a more thorough study. We will definitely be interested to know what happens in the UK. If it is damaging to children’s health then it is alarming.”
Adds The New Zealand Herald:
“Professor Olle Johansson, of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, who is concerned about the spread of Wi-Fi, says ‘thousands’ of articles in scientific literature demonstrate ‘adverse health effects’ from Wi-Fi” and for the past 16 months, “the provincial government of Salzburg in Austria has been advising schools not to install Wi-Fi, and is considering a ban”.
instant and unwanted - Your brain and a cellphone, November 30, 2006
The New Zealand Herald - Concern about Wi-Fi health danger spreads to NZ from British schools, April 23, 2007
The Independent - Wi-Fi: Children at risk from ‘electronic smog’, April 23, 2007
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