Are WiFi Networks Dangerous For Kids?
A friend of mine called me today to ask if she should turn off her WiFi network, because she heard that they were dangerous for kids and that some schools were removing their networks.
This was the first I’d heard of this, but I guess it makes sense that if mobile phone masts are considered dangerous and aren’t allowed to be placed near schools, then I guess WiFi networks could also be transmitting harmful radiation. Running a WiFi network at home could be the same as having a mobile phone mast in your front room.
I did some digging around and I did find some details. Mobile phone masts and the low-level radiation they create have been linked with losses of concentration, headaches, fatigue and possibly cancer. According to Karen Barrett from campaign group Mast Sanity in the UK, there is no need to have a WiFi network:
There is no good reason to have something like that in your house apart from the fact it is a lot tidier not to have cables. But it is worth having a bit of mess to protect children’s health
I also did find details of a school in Chichester, West Sussex where the parents successfully lobbied the headteacher to remove wireless networks.
I wonder if this will be the latest scare, or is is it yet another case of the luddites attacking modern technology and making stupid claims such as mobile phones can ignite petrol pumps or crash planes, both of which have finally have been proven to be unfounded. Karen clearly has no idea of why people use WiFi networks. It certainly isn’t so that they can save money on cables and ties.
If it is true though, I wonder what the implications will be for users and also for ISPs who are trying to build city-wide WiFi networks. I bet you’ll soon see parents suing schools because the WiFi network fried little Johnnie’s brain, and that’s why he failed his exams!
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Comment by i call bs on 22 November 2006:
no links whatsoever? no details? i call bull.
Comment by Dezza on 22 November 2006:
Nope, it was on p17 of the London Lite paper yesterday - still got my copy!
Comment by Everton Blair on 24 November 2006:
It made the times……