The irony is inescapable when you consider that most of our schools have only recently been wired for Internet connections or are presently being connected through the aid of the E-RATE funds. It is also tragically ironic that the very computer manufacturers that relied on schools and children to establish their market shares are now pushing wireless technologies using unlicensed frequencies on these children apparently without regard to the health and safety issues involved with their products. Children are potentially the most vulnerable and most unsuspecting pawns in this high-stakes market push. The most important part that you can play is to gain as much knowledge as possible. Take what you learn to your local school board. Get involved now. Our role is to provide realistic information on this issue and to help you protect your children from being unsuspecting victims of this wireless experiment. We will be frequently updating
this page with the most current information on this subject and
with reports on our efforts to help school leaders step back from
these technologies long enough to learn about the health and safety
issues. 4/18/03 -The New York City Department of Education is considering a proposal to rent space on public school properties as sites for wireless communications facilities, i.e., mobile phone antenna base stations. Glenn Encababian of the Bronx is spear-heading the effort to inform parents and elected official about this proposal and about the debate over possible health risks from exposure to radiofrequency radiation emitted by these antennas. Elected officials and parents have sent letters to Chancellor Joseph Klein questioning the wisdom of this proposal. Letters have been sent by:
Note especially the February
6, 2003, Press Release from Ruben Diaz Jr., New York State Assemblyman
for the 75th District in Bronx County. In this Release Mr. Diaz
announces legislation he has drafted to be introduced in this session.
The Legislation prohibits: "the placement, erection or construction
of a wireless communication facility on school grounds or buildings."
3/14/03 - "Children and Cell Phones: Is there a health risk? The case for extra precautions." By Don Maisch of EMFacts Consultancy in Australia. - On March 3rd, 2003, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed new guidelines for evaluating cancer risks to children, on the grounds that children may be 10 times more vulnerable than adults to cancer risks from exposure to a wide range of chemicals. This is the first time the EPA has officially taken into account the differences between adults and children when assessing cancer risks from chemical exposure. The EPA views the question of chemical exposure as so significant that it has written a separate guidance paper on the risks of cancer to children, concerned that exposure to mutagenic chemicals may be significantly more dangerous to the young. At first, this may seem irrelevant to children's use of cell phones until it is realized that there is also a large body of scientific evidence, some of which is examined in this paper, that indicates children may be far more vulnerable to health effects from exposure to mobile phone microwave radiation than adults, as well. 3/14/03 - Parents', students' and community opposition to placement of AT&T cell phone antennas on Sullivan Heights High School in Surrey, BC prevails. This account comes from Milt Bowling, coordinator of Canada's Electromagnetic Radiation Task Force and board member of The EMR Network. Milt participated in the public hearings. 2/7/03 - The Association for Comprehensive Neurotherapy discusses electrical sensitivity and the impact of wireless technology on the development and health of children's central nervous systems. See the articles in their journal Latitudes and their on-line forum. 12/27/01 -There are
many issues involved when schools consider whether or not to allow
the use of wireless devices in schools.
"THE CHILD SCRAMBLER: What a mobile can do to a youngster's
brain in two minutes." (Sunday Mirror, December
27, 2001)These are the first images that show the shocking effect
that using a mobile phone has on a child's brain. Scientists have
discovered that a call lasting just two minutes can alter the natural
electrical activity of a child's brain for up to an hour afterwards.
And they also found for the first time how radio waves from mobile
phones penetrate deep into the brain and not just around the ear. 9/25/01 Wireless
Devices, Standards, and Microwave Radiation in the Education Environment
by Gary Brown, Ed.D. in instructional and distance education from
Nova Southeastern University. Dr. Brown is a public school district
educational technology and distance-learning specialist. 9/25/01 Read this interview
with Dr. Robert Becker, M.D., one of the first medical pioneers
to study natural electrical currents in the human body and to caution
about electropollution. He discusses neurological effects that relate
to learning disorders. Dr. Becker was twice nominated for the Nobel
Prize in Medicine. This interview with Linda Moulton Howe of Earthfiles
took place in May, 2000. The
Los Angeles Unified School Board as of June, 2000, passed a resolution
opposing the future placement of mobile phone communications towers
on or adjacent to school property because of the potential health
effect. In 1995 California PUC (Public Utility Commission) issued
an advisory on siting towers near schools and residences which is
not being enforced. *Scroll down to Agenda Item IX. Motions and
Resolutions for Action. One international body that
is considering further study of RF/MW adverse bioeffects is the
European Parliament. In 2000, the European Parliament's Directorate
General for Research, Division Industry, Research, Energy, Environment
and Scientific and Technological Options Assessment (STOA) sought
Dr. Gerard Hyland's input on the possible adverse health effects
of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation. Dr. Hyland, Ph.D., is
a professor at the Department of Physics, University of Warwick,
Coventry, UK and a member of the International Institute of Biophysics,
Neuss-Holzheim. Dr. Hyland's Final Study for STOA entitled, "The
Physiological and Environmental Effects of Electromagnetic Radiation,"
was released in March, 2001. It includes a lengthy discussion of
the effects of RF/MW radiation from wireless technology on the brain
physiology of school-aged children. Read a 5
April 2001 letter from Dr. George Carlo who directed the Wireless
Technology Research (WTR) program, addressed to the Broward County
(Florida) School Board outlining the health concerns surrounding
children's use of wireless technology. Broward is currently studying
whether to equip its schools with Wireless Local Access Networks
(WLAN's) for its classroom computer systems. WLAN's radio frequency
radiation emissions parallel those of digital cell phones. Broward's
student population numbers approximately 250,000. (This is a fairly
large "locked" PDF document.) Read Dr.
Bill Curry's recent analysis (a pdf file) of the potential health
hazards of wireless LAN's. Bill is an electrical engineer, a physicist,
a member of the I.E.E.E. and one of the founders of the EMR Network. This
letter was directed to the Broward County School District in Ft.
Lauderdale, FL. This district enrolls over 250,000 students, all
of whom could be exposed to the ultra-high frequencies of these
technologies. "How
Safe Is Wireless Computing." This piece was written by
Charles Moore for the December 1999 issue of Mac Opinion. These statements from medical doctors about the possible public health risks of mobile phone antenna base stations exposure appeared on page 15 of the Fall 1997 issue of Network News, the newsletter of The EMR Alliance. |
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