to worry about whether wifi should be banned from schools

aliena · 2011-05-15T14:28:09+00:00

Has anyone read the report featured in today's on line Mail stating that a committee set up by the Council of Europe has issued a report saying that wifi should be potentially banned from school since it can potentially cause cancer and affect developing brains? And that this was a health crisis in the making akin to asbestos, smoking and lead in petrol? My DC's school (small and in a house) has had its wifi updated recently to what the principal (who is technology mad and wants all pupils ultimately to bring in laptops) described as "industrial" standards. At home I always switch off our wireless box at night just because well I have always been a little sure about how it might affect the DC. And now I've read this article I'm even more concerned. Any thoughts? I know I'm probably being unreasonable.

Original poster

aliena · 15/05/2011 15:30

sorry here's the link : www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1387291/Mobile-phones-wi-fi-banned-schools-theyre-potentially-harmful.html#comments

OP posts:

meditrina · 15/05/2011 15:33

It's on the front page of today's Telegraph as well.

And it's a Council of Europe ruling, so it is unlikely to be ignored.

vajazzhands · 15/05/2011 15:34

You'll have a load of people on here in no time telling you to sit indoors with a tinfoil hat but I don't think yabu really. I mean we do have wifi in our house and its a risk we've chosen to take but I do worry as this will be the first generation to grow up with it in their homes and we don't know for certain there will be no problems until they are grown right?

beckibicker · 15/05/2011 15:38

its old news, they have been going on about this for at least three years now

JemAndTheHolograms · 15/05/2011 15:56

YANBU. I've never really thought about it before, but there could be some truth in it. It would be a step backwards technologically to restrict Wi-fi usage though as nearly every home, business and school in the country now has it.

atswimtwolengths · 15/05/2011 16:05

The main reason I'd want to have a ban is because of the addiction so many teenagers show towards their mobiles. I teach in a college and about half the students are absolutely addicted. Even if they promise not to use it, they have to have it within sight and often stroke it (not checking messages, just touching it for comfort.) They admit that they couldn't cope if it was taken off them.

TheCoalitionNeedsYou · 15/05/2011 16:11

Yabu

meditrina · 15/05/2011 16:12

Telegraph article here. I had a look at the CofE website to see if there were further info there, but didn't spot fresh news on this, so it's not clear why it's headline news again.

CofE rulings aren't binding on Govt's, but do usually get passed into treaty or law. They're not tackling domestic use of wifi:

The committee concluded that member states should:
? Set thresholds for levels of long-term exposure to microwaves of the type emitted by mobile phones;
? Introduce clear labelling on products indicating the presence of electromagnetic fields and any health risks associated with use;
? Ban all mobile phones and wireless networks in classrooms and schools;
? Run information campaigns aimed at children and young adults about the risks to human health;
? Step up research on less-dangerous types of antennae and mobile phones.

This all sounds fine to me.

SafetyFirst · 16/05/2011 10:41

Hi
There's loads of evidence that the fields are harmful but don't expect the government nor industry to tell you!
We've got everything cabled including the phones as cordless landlines emit all the time and some people say that's why everyone is getting cancer, especially women and breast cancer.
I won't give my children phones either. Don't want them to get a brain tumour.
I found these sites
www.wifiinschools.org.uk
www.wiredchild.org

spinneyhorse · 30/09/2011 06:00

The French Government have banned all WiFi from Schools and Public Buildings!

magdahavas com/

es-uk info

Sent in by Pedro Belmont

Int J Neurosci. 2011 Sep 5.
Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity: Evidence for a Novel Neurological Syndrome.

McCarty DE, Carrubba S, Chesson AL, Frilot C, Gonzalez-Toledo E, Marino AA.
Source

1Department of Neurology, LSU Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA.
Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective: We sought direct evidence that acute exposure to environmental-strength electromagnetic fields (EMFs) could induce somatic reactions (EMF hypersensitivity). Methods: The subject, a female physician self-diagnosed with EMF hypersensitivity, was exposed to an average (over the head) 60-Hz electric field of 300 V/m (comparable with typical environmental-strength EMFs) during controlled provocation and behavioral studies. Results: In a double-blinded EMF provocation procedure specifically designed to minimize unintentional sensory cues, the subject developed temporal pain, headache, muscle twitching, and skipped heartbeats within 100 s after initiation of EMF exposure (p < .05). The symptoms were caused primarily by field transitions (off-on, on-off) rather than the presence of the field, as assessed by comparing the frequency and severity of the effects of pulsed and continuous fields in relation to sham exposure. The subject had no conscious perception of the field as judged by her inability to report its presence more often than in the sham control. Discussion: The subject demonstrated statistically reliable somatic reactions in response to exposure to subliminal EMFs under conditions that reasonably excluded a causative role for psychological processes. Conclusion: EMF hypersensitivity can occur as a bona fide environmentally inducible neurological syndrome.
PMID:
21793784
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Nesbo · 30/09/2011 06:55

I don't suppose there is any point during an average day in London when you are not within range of multiple wifi networks. My phone can "see" 4 at the moment, but there are probably more. I don't think banning them in schools would make much difference here.

wellwisher · 30/09/2011 08:46

Yes, it's terrifying.

Here are some other things that the Daily Mail reckons are carcinogenic, pasted from a Facebook page that keeps track:

YABU

Tee2072 · 30/09/2011 08:55

Here's the thing. Wifi are, basically, radio signals. Like what you get Radio 4 on. So they've been in the air for about 100 years.

There is no way to prove, even if cancer rates go up, that wifi caused it as there is no way to create a control group that is never exposed to wifi.

Scaremongering. Wifi is here to stay. In schools. In the air.

Whatmeworry · 30/09/2011 08:58

Wifi is less powerful a wave than mobile is, I will count the days it takes for them to work that out...

WorzselMummage · 30/09/2011 09:03

Love your post wellwisher

Spinnyhorse I have had all the symptoms you list and they were caused by Anxiety. MY house is a mecca for micro/radio waves and a gadget hub and antidepressants sorted me out, they work well on paranoia too.

mybrainsthinkingfuckyou · 30/09/2011 09:03

Okay...so I log on to mumsnet whenever i am breastfeeding or at night when co-sleeping.

Have wireless netbook eee pc - can radiate heat and isn't a huge distance from me or baby.

Is it really scaremongery or should i be stopping my surfing at least with baby nearby, developing brain and all that... (she is currently babbling that i am being unreasonable as she is in her travelcot while i type this!)

spinneyhorse · 04/10/2011 09:35

All truth goes through three stages: first it is ridiculed, then it is violently opposed, finally it is accepted as self evident. - Schopenhauer

es-uk.info

magdahavas.com

wellwisher · 04/10/2011 09:56

Snorbs · 04/10/2011 10:10

And all untruths go through the "first it is ridiculed, then it is violently opposed, finally it is accepted as a load of horse-shit" stages.

gordyslovesheep · 04/10/2011 10:13

Snorbs :)

unnumpty · 04/10/2011 17:20

Mybrainsthinkingfuckyou, you might as well take a precautionary approach with your baby's head. The government advice is that babies' and children's heads should not be exposed to radiation from mobile phones; they consider evidence about possible harm to be inconclusive so far, and extensive further research is underway.

MissBetsyTrotwood · 04/10/2011 17:34

WorszelMummage

onagar · 04/10/2011 17:59

wellwisher nice one :o

The funny thing is they probably are all carcinogenic - a little bit. The question is "is it significantly dangerous" and most things are not.

I have no idea if wifi is significantly dangerous, but as others have said I'm surrounded by wifi signals so it's probably not possible to prove if someone gets ill that wifi caused it.

unnumpty · 04/10/2011 18:11

With babies and children, it's not just that their brains are still developing, but that their skulls are thinner than adults' skulls.

As the government says. In its advice.

complexnumber · 04/10/2011 18:23

Thank you spinneyhorse,
Stop believing the DM, they LIE!

They have a nasty agenda that has been exposed time and time again. And yet they still have sales!