Wi-Fi in Schools

Overview
  • The TechSafe Schools project provides the following for you to share with your schools:

    TechSafe Schools Webinars on legal risks, science and pediatrician insights, and remediation measures for transitioning to safe technology

    A personal letter addressed to school administrators
  • Dr. Cindy Russell, co-founder of Physicians for Safe Technology, and Environmental Health Trust Executive Director Theodora Scarato produced a 70-minute webinar for the United Educators of San Francisco, which has passed a Safe Technology Resolution. This is available for all schools to learn the biological risks and solutions for safe technology in our schools:

Exposure Measurements

The Science
Expert Recommendations

This includes a Finnish school that has installed kill switches and timers to reduce wireless radiation exposure to children and staff:


Legislation to Protect Schools
School Training
  • The non-profit Wireless Education has worked with experts to distill the science and medical advisories into an easy-to-learn 30-minute on-line course that will quickly bring schools and families up to speed on technology safety:

    https://www.wirelesseducation.org/store/l2/

  • There is also a low-cost 30-minute e-learning course for businesses to educate and safeguard their employees in the work environment. This covers both the health and legal risks of today's wireless technology:

    https://www.wirelesseducation.org/store/c2/

  • Both courses provide a tip sheet at the end with device-specific reminders, as well as a Certificate of Completion for compliance tracking. To support social responsibility, Wireless Education enables those purchasing Corporate Safety Induction Course licenses to designate a local school and Wireless Education will donate the Schools & Families Course licenses to help safeguard local students and staff. Please see:

    http://www.wirelesseducation.org/
Additional Resources
  • This 18 minute 2012 video from Australia provides an easy to understand overview of the issues surrounding wi-fi in schools, and how others around the world are responding:  

Please note, the United States' current FCC standards for EMFs are very similar to Australia's outdated standards and are currently under formal review.  However, in the cases of smoking, asbestos and lead, it took many years for the our government to change our public health standards so we may not see change come from the top anytime soon.  In the meantime, manufacturers will continue to sell us harmful products so it is up to concerned citizens to protect themselves and their loved ones.

  • This 24-minute video from Canada's Dr. Magda Havas also provides an in-depth overview of wi-fi in schools.  It highlights the scientific evidence and offers alternative solutions:

E-Rate Program Influence

  • The National Association for Children and Safe Technology offers a document to explain how the FCC has implemented technology in our schools and the corruption that has come with it:
  • This presentation by Mikko Ahonen, Ph.D., Sweden/Finland, and Ph.D. candidate Tarmo Koppel, discusses issues and solutions to protect children in schools in the face of government programs promoting wireless technology:

Technology Can Hamper Learning

Another issue is that technology was brought into the classroom under the industry's promise that it will enhance learning. Studies are now showing otherwise:
Privacy Issues
Silicon Valley Executives Ban Technology from Their Children

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports Silicon Valley executives are sending their children to schools with no technology and having their nannies sign contracts that there will be no screens around their children:
  • The Digital Gap Between Rich and Poor Kids Is Not What We Expected: America’s public schools are still promoting devices with screens — even offering digital-only preschools. The rich are banning screens from class altogether.

  • A Dark Consensus About Screens and Kids Begins to Emerge in Silicon Valley: “I am convinced the devil lives in our phones.”

Students and Staff Suffering
  • Rodney Palmer - Safety Code 6 - Presentation to the Royal Society of Canada: In this November 2, 2013 video, an experienced journalist presents concerns over an illness cluster with children in Ontario schools, leaving two children dead and two more with heart devices, among other effects:  

Educators Taking Action
  • Teachers unions are recognizing the risks of wi-fi in their work environment and are seeking protection:


  • See also the attached position paper from Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association.

  • See also the World Response page to see what countries around the world are doing to protect their citizens.

Parents Taking Action
  • A parent interested in enrolling her children in the City of Lakes Waldorf School in Minneapolis educated the school on the hazards of wi-fi. After investigating, the school removed the wi-fi system as a precautionary measure to protect the students and staff:


  • Ashland Public Schools in Massachusetts, US, is the first to begin putting precautionary measures in place with Best Practices for Mobile Devices:


  • Los Angeles Unified School District has lowered its radiation exposure to 10,000 lower than the FCC limit, however, science indicates this is still not a biologically safe level and gives a false sense of security:

  • Scientists from around the world submitted an International Appeal to the World Health Organization and United Nations in 2015 imploring them to protect especially our children and pregnant women, but to date, nothing has been done.  The documentary, "Microwaves, Science and Lies," shows evidence that even the WHO may be influenced by manufacturers' profit agendas.  
  • Parents around the world are becoming educated and working with their school boards to remove and/or limit wi-fi exposure. Unfortunately, most schools boards and technology directors only know what the FCC tells them, which is that there is no evidence of biological harm at the non-thermal level.  Science has long since proven this is not true. Please see the Science page for details. 
  • Until a higher authority tells our schools to remove the wi-fi and use hard-wired connections, most school boards may not feel empowered enough to make the change.  Ultimately, technology should not be rolled out until it is proven biologically safe but that did not happen with wireless and cellular products.  Harvard University's Captured Agency report explains how the telecommunications industry rolled out products without proper safety testing.
So, until actual safe technology can be brought to market, it is up to the parents to become educated, and then help educate our schools to protect our children and staff members.

Students Taking Action
  • Two eleventh-grade students in Canada have started an organization to educate their schools and peers about environmental issues and technology safety. They are collaborating with the national organization, Canadians for Safe Technology (C4ST) to raise awareness and present solutions:

Resources

The following links provide additional insights to help guide us.  Please don't hesitate to reach out to any of these contacts, we are all eager to help you solve this problem in your community:

The following 27-minute WCCA-TV cable program gives an overview of the journey to bring about Ashland's Best Practices for Mobile Devices (another guest speaks briefly about a utility "smart" meter program piloted in Worcester, MA):

http://www.wccatv.com/video/soapbox/SOAPBOX1052

We also received a local grant to purchase an Acoustimeter to put on loan through the Ashland Public Library so residents can measure and remediate wi-fi radiation in their spaces.  WACA-TV helped to produce a 23-minute public service video to demonstrate how to use it in one's home, and offers suggestions to lower exposure:

https://vimeo.com/159873631
  • The Boston Parents Paper chose as their 2015 back to school cover story, "Is Wi-Fi in Schools Safe? A Look at Potential Dangers":

  • Safe Tech for Schools Maryland reported on April 6, 2016, "New York PTA Calls For Wi-Fi To Be Turned Off: Major Wi-fi Controvery as School District is Served With Legal Liability Notice:"

  • The following is a letter from the American Academy of Environmental Medicine to the Los Angeles Unified School District regarding the proposal to install Wi-FI in Los Angeles schools:
  • Wi-Fi Free Schools Australia has started a country map indicating where parents can find a wi-fi-free school for their children:

  • Magda Havas is Associate Professor of Environmental & Resource Studies at Trent University where she teaches and does research on the biological effects of environmental contaminants. Dr. Havas received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, completed Post-Doctoral research at Cornell University, and taught at the University of Toronto before going to Trent University in Peterborough, Canada.  In the following two videos, she outlines the issues with wi-fi in schools.  Dr. Magda Havas WiFi Schools May 9, 2013 Part 1:

Dr. Magda Havas WiFi Schools May 9, 2013 Part 2:


  • This site is dedicated to understanding and remediating Wi-Fi in Schools, and has some good graphics to help visualize the issues:

  • For facebook users, Campaign for Radiation Free Schools seeks to educate parents and schools on the hazards of microwave radiation from cell phone towers and antennas on or near school property, and from wireless networks within school learning environments. Regular updates are posted to keep abreast of current wi-fi in school activity around the world:

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/110896245588878/

  • Using a crude AM radio, this video allows you to hear the amount of radiation emitted from a hard-wired PC vs. a wireless laptop and iPad:

Note: The information provided here is publicly available on the Internet.  
It is intended to provide a starting point to inform you of EMF dangers.  
Please do your own research, draw your own conclusions, and act accordingly to protect those you love.