Parents say wi-fi at school making kids sick

[fredr123]

http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loc...ub=CalgaryHome

Some parents in the Barrie area say their children suffer symptoms ranging from headaches to nausea, and blame wireless Internet in their schools.

Palmer plans to find alternate schools or even home-school his two children this fall if the board doesn't turn off the Wi-Fi, and predicts other parents will follow suit if the kids' symptoms return.

I feel pretty crummy during the week too. At work, I often notice I experience head aches and nausea and memory problems and nausea. On the weekends I'm fine. Pretty sure it must be the wi-fi.

[calculoso]

Hope they check the air quality of the school while they are at it.

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by calculoso

Hope they check the air quality of the school while they are at it.

They did. It's full of wi-fi.

[Frank MetaMusil]

[fredr123]

/obligatory

[gargamel]

Originally Posted by fredr123

http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loc...ub=CalgaryHome





I feel pretty crummy during the week too. At work, I often notice I experience head aches and nausea and memory problems and nausea. On the weekends I'm fine. Pretty sure it must be the wi-fi.

Strange. I feel good at home where I have wifi, but crummy at work where I don't have it. The only reasonable explanation is that I must have mutated to feed off of wifi.

[VladtheImpaler]

Big deal - just put a tin-foil hat on your child and problem solved!

[automaton 3]

Originally Posted by gargamel

Strange. I feel good at home where I have wifi, but crummy at work where I don't have it. The only reasonable explanation is that I must have mutated to feed off of wifi.

I think there might be something to this theory! I feel crappy at work where the wifi is on a different floor, but feel great at home where I often sit right beside the wifi.

Quick someone better commission a multimillion dollar inquiry to study this phenomenon!

[tussery]

I feel fine at work and I am in a room with one of the wireless routers for the school. Even with the high gain antennas on it.

[Komskies]

Man, kids are such freaking pussies these days.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by Komskies

Man, parents are such freaking pussies these days.

Slight edit to your post.

[Thor]

lol blame wifi.

Check the school air quality, look for toxins, especially molds. Check the water supply, the food services area.

Kids complaining should also check for sensitivity to lights used in schools, humming noises for those prone to headaches.

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by automaton 3

I think there might be something to this theory! I feel crappy at work where the wifi is on a different floor, but feel great at home where I often sit right beside the wifi.

Quick someone better commission a multimillion dollar inquiry to study this phenomenon!

There's already a double-blind longitudinal study going on in Barrie as we speak. Although I think this Palmer guy may be confounding a variable or two.

[Thor]

In fact, due to their lower frequency, at similar RF exposure levels, the body absorbs up to five times more of the signal from FM radio and television than from base stations (wifi). This is because the frequencies used in FM radio (around 100 MHz) and in TV broadcasting (around 300 to 400 MHz) are lower than those employed in mobile telephony (900 MHz and 1800 MHz) and because a person's height makes the body an efficient receiving antenna. Further, radio and television broadcast stations have been in operation for the past 50 or more years without any adverse health consequence being established.
While most radio technologies have used analog signals, modern wireless telecommunications are using digital transmissions. Detailed reviews conducted so far have not revealed any hazard specific to different RF modulations.

Public perception of risk

Some people perceive risks from RF exposure as likely and even possibly severe. Several reasons for public fear include media announcements of new and unconfirmed scientific studies, leading to a feeling of uncertainty and a perception that there may be unknown or undiscovered hazards. Other factors are aesthetic concerns and a feeling of a lack of control or input to the process of determining the location of new base stations. Experience shows that education programmes as well as effective communications and involvement of the public and other stakeholders at appropriate stages of the decision process before installing RF sources can enhance public confidence and acceptability.

Conclusions

Considering the very low exposure levels and research results collected to date, there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak RF signals from base stations and wireless networks cause adverse health effects.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/facts.../en/index.html

[Jimmy Stang]

I wonder how many of these kids are "exposed" to wifi at home as well? I'd guess that the majority of households have a wireless network these days. Not to mention many stores, malls, restaurants, etc.

So if it is the wifi, the kids should be feeling crummy pretty much everywhere.

[troutman]

http://www.skepdic.com/emf.html

Recently, the alarm has been raised by some who fear that damage might be done to our brains from being exposed to Wi-Fi. Despite the fact that modulated frequencies bringing radio and television transmissions into our homes are stronger and more pervasive than the radio waves used by wireless networks, there has been little call to reduce radio or TV transmission. (The power levels for Wi-Fi are lower than that for cell phones, by the way. Photons of visible light carry more energy than microwaves and bombard us much more frequently than microwaves from such things as cell phones or wireless networks.

It is not very likely that the average person has anything to worry about from power lines cell phones, microwave ovens, cordless phones, baby monitors, or Wi-Fi. Most of us do not get that close to power lines to be significantly affected by their EMFs. Our exposure to them, even if they are nearby, is not direct, up close, and constant. The energy emitted by cell phones, cordless phones, and baby monitors (10 milliwatts) is pretty weak. There is more EMF exposure from radio and TV, and the wiring in our homes and the electrical appliances we use, than from our cell phones or Wi-Fi. No one can avoid electromagnetic radiation. It is everywhere. We are constantly exposed to it from light, commercial radio and television transmissions, police 2-way transmissions, walkie-talkies, etc.

http://www.badscience.net/2007/05/so...could-spot-it/

Wi-Fi Wants To Kill Your Children…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6676129.stm

Wi-fi health fears are 'unproven'

Scientists have said there is no evidence to suggest a link between the use of wi-fi and damage to health.

[Thor]

Oh and also wanted to Add, a lot of the headaches you get while in school or at offices are often from sleep issues, caffeine/sugar intakes and these days staring at monitors for 8hrs a day or more.

There are lots of things workers and students can do in order to alleviate feeling unwell during school/work, most of it is more common sense than anything and especially a healthy lifestyle with exercise and good regular sleep.

[cKy]

I had headaches and nausea too in high school. Ofcourse, it was from staying up playing video games until 4am - but still.

[Russic]

Slight tangent here. I work at the university and one of my duties is to manage the general email that comes in. It's incredible how many emails I get from parents along the lines of "My son has recently been accepted into your school. Where can we find information on X, Y and Z". I'm sorry ... we? I understand in most of these cases the parents are paying for the education so they want to take an interest in their investment, but the hand-holding is enough to blow your mind. These are grown adults being coddled by other grownups.

The only reason wifi is being targeted here is because it's the least understood. Surely it can't be the air quality, lighting or garbage the kids could be ingesting. It must be the thing we know nothing about! Wifi is everywhere now ... I have a feeling if it caused sickness we may have figured it out by now.

[Old Yeller]

Hmmmm, I also feel worse at work than I do at home.... but I spend more time browsing CP at work then I do at home.

Coincidence? I think not!

Class action law suit? I think so!