Keep Our Children’s School Technology Safe, It’s Time To Apply the Precautionary Principle-by a loving, concerned Fullerton mother.
There are two sides of the argument of whether or not WiFi belongs in our children’s classrooms. Let’s remember that it is not a question of whether or not technology will be part of the student’s education, but whether it is wired or wireless (WiFi). Wired technology is a more secure and reliable connection with virtually no safety issues. WiFi communication is achieved with microwave electromagnetic frequency emissions that result in our children being exposed to wireless radiation in the classroom.
Those who are pushing for wireless technology stand with studies funded by the tech industry, and tech industry’s literature that attest to its safety. This side says there are no long-term studies that say wireless radiation is harmful. They also point to FCC guidelines as the reason to claim that it is safe.
Let’s look at the FCC guidelines. These criteria were last updated 17 years ago, in 1996. If we think back to that time, technology was very different from today. The use and amount of devices has grown and proliferated. Equally significant, the guidelines ignore non-thermal biological effects, which is the safety concern with wireless radiation. Given this, it could easily be said that the FCC guidelines are antiquated and, consequently, potentially dangerous.
Those who do not want wireless radiation in their children’s classroom can point to:
More than 5000 studies: http://www.justproveit.net/studies
Letters from MDs, researchers and scientists imploring the Los Angeles Unified School District school board to opt for wired technologies:
http://www.wifiinschools.com/lausd-testimony.html
Numerous websites (I’m still coming upon more):
WiFi In Schools US
WiFi In Schools UK
WiFi In Schools Austrailia
Citizens 4 Safe Technology
Center For Safer Wireless
Safe School
Prove It
Countless videos (this is not all):
Dr. Magda Havas: WiFi In Schools is Safe. True or False?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v75sKAUFdc
WiFi In Schools: Testing for Microwave Radiation Dangers In the Classroom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FO0AnNHz8vI
There is not much we can do about antiquated FCC guidelines, and there is not much we can do about the lack of funding, which has prevented the needed long-term studies. We can recognize there are two sides to the issue, and that we must, above all else, provide for the safety of our children. The safety of our school technology must come first, over its method of delivery: wired or wireless.
Recognizing the disparity of these two viewpoints, it is imperative that we act in the best interests of the children. To do so, we acknowledge the two sides and use the precautionary principle. As Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D., Director, Center for Family and Community Health, University of California, Berkeley, in a letter dated February 8, 2013, to Los Angeles USD:
“The precautionary principle should be applied to this critical policy decision. This principle, developed at a U.N. environmental conference in 1992 states that in the absence of scientific consensus if an action has a suspected risk of causing harm, the burden of proof it is not harmful falls on those taking the action, and all reasonable measures to reduce the risk must be taken.”
There is an “absence of scientific consensus”; there is “a suspected risk of causing harm”; the “burden of proof” rests with the side pushing wireless radiation into the classroom. That side has not met the burden of proof that it cannot harm our children. The “reasonable” measure is right in front of us and it will not harm our children, it is wired technology.
Let’s not risk the health of our children, let’s do the right and precautionary thing and keep safety first with our school technology. Let’s apply the precautionary principle and use only wired technology in our schools. The F.S.D. has a world class opportunity to do what we believe is the right thing.
#1 by Anonymous on July 29, 2013 - 7:50 pm
As a parent, not in Fullerton, but nonetheless a parent, I see the push for everything to go wireless. Not that it concerned me before, but backdropped against this perspective is deeply disturbing to say the least. My daughter’s private school in Yorba Linda went with the Ipads last year. My wife and I bought one for each of our children, much like everyone else that I know.
The possibility that all this is harming them seemed like an impossibility until I dug a little deeper here. I am at a loss for words, and needless to say, extremely disturbed with many unanswered questions that my wife and I still have. Thank you for the platform that you and others have provided the public with here. There are a lot of people who are going to want some answers and I will direct them to this site.
#2 by amateur night on July 29, 2013 - 9:11 pm
Look, they got you, your kids, principal, council, school board, and everyone else that is someone hook line and sinker. They have managed to slip this wireless crap into everyone’s house, blouse, and bedroom. What’s it gonna take man?
#3 by Joe Imbriano on July 29, 2013 - 11:07 pm
Maybe so but we can still spit the hook.
#4 by Jamie on July 30, 2013 - 6:53 am
Yes, these are our children and we parents are here to protect them, let’s “spit the hook.”
#5 by In CA on July 31, 2013 - 10:30 am
My child goes to a private school, too, and the school is just starting a 1 to 1 technology program. I am having some success in getting the information out to the parents. I just made my contact information available to the site admin, Joe Imbriano. If you would like some information from another private school parent, I would be happy to let you know of my experience.