{"id":11363,"date":"2017-09-04T12:31:50","date_gmt":"2017-09-04T19:31:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?page_id=11363"},"modified":"2019-01-31T08:53:26","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T15:53:26","slug":"wifi-schools-ontario","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?page_id=11363","title":{"rendered":"WIFI – Schools Ontario"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cOstrich with its head in the sand\u201d:<\/h2>\n

Mississauga mom demands Catholic school board accommodate son\u2019s Wi-Fi injury<\/h2>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bigger problem than people realize,\u201d said Paulette Rende.<\/p>\n

Jun 13, 2018\u00a0by\u00a0Marta Marychuk<\/a>\u00a0 – \u00a0Mississauga News<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Paulette<\/a><\/div>\n
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emrabc.ca\/?p=13219<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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www.bramptonguardian.com\/news-story\/8666696–ostrich-with-its-head-in-the-sand-mississauga-mom-demands-catholic-school-board-accommodate-son-s-wi-fi-injury\/<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Is Wi-Fi health hazard for students?<\/h2>\n
NEWS\u00a0Sep 24, 2011<\/section>\n
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\"wiredYork\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Noah Khani, 9 (left), sister Soraya, 11, Vanessa Di Giacinto, 11, and John Haralampopoulos, 10, access the Internet using cable hookups as moms Dora Khani, Lynnette Haralampopoulos, holding plug, and Roula Di Giacinto holding cables look on. The parents are concerned about possible adverse health effects from the use of wireless, or Wi-Fi, systems in schools. – STAFF PHOTO\/SUSIE KOCKERSCHEIDT\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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York Region\u2019s public school board may be getting top marks for being at the forefront digital learning, but a growing number of parents are wishing educators would take it a little slower.
\nThey are concerned that wireless technology may be harming their children\u2019s health and have organized a seminar to explore the topic next week.
\nAll of York Region\u2019s public schools are connected wirelessly and the board is recognized as a leader in move to bring digital technology into the classroom.
\nBut not everyone thinks that\u2019s smart.
\n\u201cIt goes against our rights as parents,\u201d says Richmond Hill parent\u00a0 Lynnette Haralampopoulos. \u201cWe try to have a safe environment for our kids and do what we can at home to remove things that can cause cancer but they\u00a0have no choice; they have to be in school.\u201d
\nMs Haralampopoulos, and other parents in the region, are reverting to plug-in technology and circulating a \u201cnon-consent form\u201d to be submitted to schools when parents don\u2019t want their kids using wireless computers or to be exposed to them in the school.
\nSimilar concerns hit the headlines last year when parents in Collingwood complained of a host of ailments, including\u00a0 headaches, rashes and dizziness, they attributed to Wi-Fi. Families in Simcoe County and Peterborough<\/strong> complained of the same thing. Niagara<\/strong> teachers expressed concerns about the technology while Lakehead University<\/strong> opted out altogether.
\nA few things have changed since then, but the issue remains controversial.
\nLakehead has reversed its decision on Wi-Fi after an online survey found overwhelming support for installation on campus.
\nOntario\u2019s chief medical officer of health came out with a statement\u00a0http:\/\/www.health.gov.on.ca\/en\/news\/bulletin\/2010\/cmoh_wifi.aspx<\/a>\u00a0assuring parents that wireless poses no threat to children in school.
\nBut the World Health Organization<\/strong> produced a statement this spring reclassifying radio frequency emitted by wireless devices as possibly carcinogenic, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe recommended schools and classrooms give preference to wired Internet connections and strictly regulate the use of mobile phones by school children on school premises.
\nAt its annual meeting in August, Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario<\/strong> set up a committee to study the issue, while the teachers\u2019 union in Britain has gone further, demanding a full investigation and Wi-Fi be removed from all schools.
\n\u201cWe are taking great risks with children\u2019s futures without knowing what the consequences may be,\u201d said general secretary Philip Parkin.
\nWhile most schools in Canada continue to embrace the technology, a small private school in Collingwood has gone the other direction. Pretty River Academy, a private school with 150 students, pulled its Wi-Fi this September and replaced it with a hard-wired internet system.
\nMeantime, new advances make the technology even more pervasive, from a conductive fibre that can be embroidered into clothing to become a radio antenna, to Super Wi-Fi, a new technology with a range spanning up to 100 kilometres and the ability to transmit through concrete structures.
\nThe York Region parents want the whole thing to just slow down \u2014 in schools especially.
\nYork\u2019s school administrators say they are aware of the concerns but defer to the authority of Health Canada that says Wi-Fi is safe, that levels of radiofrequency energy emitted from wireless equipment are \u201ctypically well below safety limits\u201d.
\n\u201cBased on the wealth of peer-reviewed scientific evidence, Health Canada<\/strong> has determined that exposure to low-level radiofrequency energy, such as that from Wi-Fi equipment, is not dangerous to children\u201d the agency\u2019s website says\u00a0http:\/\/www.hc-sc.gc.ca\/ewh-semt\/pubs\/radiation\/wireless_safe-securit_sansfil-eng.php<\/a>
\nBut the parents\u2019 doubts remain.
\n\u201cSure, Health Canada said it\u2019s fine. They also said it was okay to build with asbestos and that leaded gasoline is safe,\u201d says Roula Digiacinto, whose six and 11-year-old children attend public schools in Oak Ridges.
\n\u201cBritish Columbia, France, Germany and England are starting to pull wi-fi from schools,\u201d Ms Haralampopoulos says. \u201dThey\u2019re taking the precautionary approach. That\u2019s what we want our schools to do. We don\u2019t take chances with our children\u2019s health.\u201d
\nThe issue first came to the Richmond Hill mother\u2019s attention when her family decided to renovate the basement with a bedroom for her son. While researching what to do with the fuse box, they discovered a host of potential hazards linked to the electrical device. Today, his room is located on the other side of the house and there is no wireless in their home.
\nBut she says their three children are not so lucky at school.
\n\u201cSchools have blanketed Wi-Fi systems, with multiple routers that are on constantly. They get low level microwave radiation five days a week, seven hours a day, starting at the age of four.\u201d
\n\u201cWe feel helpless,\u201d adds Franca Papaianni, a mother of three in Richmond Hill.\u00a0 \u201cDo we take our kids out and homeschool?\u201d
\nSome are opting to do just that.
\nKaren Neal, of Newmarket, plans to keep her preschooler at home and to connect her personal computers through old-fashioned plug-ins.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t want to risk our family,\u201d she says.
\nMs Neal, who has two older, university-aged children, says she worked at Sunnybrook hospital treating cancer patients on MRI machines for 13 years.
\n\u201cWe talked about it all the time, all the technologists, about the risks from Wi-Fi and cellphones.\u201d
\nShe figures she knows enough about cancer and about what is not known about cancer\u2019s causes to realize that while there are genetic links, there are likely environmental factors too.
\n\u201cThere is a place for computers, for sure, most jobs you have to use them, but there has to be boundaries.\u201d
\nApril Coskuner, with one child in Grade 1 in Oak Ridges, another in Grade 5 in Aurora Grove Public school, says that while her children aren\u2019t at the age yet where they\u2019re demanding cell phones, she won\u2019t allow it when they do.
\n\u201cBy the time they get to be that age, I bet the research will have discovered that it causes cancer.
\n\u201dAs time goes along we\u2019ll see what we\u2019re doing, the health effects, and wish to heck we didn\u2019t do something about this earlier … We\u2019re using our kids as guinea pigs.\u201d
\nThe loosely organized parents have arranged for Magda Havas, associate professor of environmental and resource studies at Trent University and outspoken about the risks of Wi-Fi and cell phones, to discuss the topic Thursday in Newmarket.
\nAurora-Newmarket MPP Frank Klees has indicated he may attend.
\n\u201cIf in fact there are health concerns or suspected health concerns, then we need to ensure that we have the appropriate information and scientific studies,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s our responsibility to get to the bottom of it.\u201d
\nHe said he understands the confusion, with Canadian health authorities assuring the technology is safe and the World Health Organization warning it may not be.
\n\u201cWhen there are two conflicting positions it would be irresponsible of me to say we shouldn\u2019t be concerned. Whenever a high profile organization like the WHO is issuing an edict, people pay attention and it behooves now the various authorities to respond.\u201d
\nFor more information, you can\u00a0e-mail<\/a>\u00a0the group.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.yorkregion.com\/news-story\/1432155-is-wi-fi-health-hazard-for-students-\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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Canadian Teacher Union Wants Wifi Banned From Schools<\/h2>\n

Kingston CKWS Television<\/p>\n

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