Cyprus Removes Wi-Fi from Kindergartens and Halts Wireless Deployment Into Public Elementary Schools

Cyprus Minister of Education issues new Decree to minimize wireless radiation exposure to children in schools and require parental consent.

Online Press Release from Environmental Health Trust 

Breaking: The Cyprus Minister of Education and Culture issued a Decree on January 31, 2017, marked “urgent” to all Directors of Kindergartens and Primary Schools, with specific measures to eliminate and minimize wireless radiation exposure to children in schools. 
“We have taken the decision to have the wireless network Wi-Fi disabled in all Public kindergartens in Cyprus,” reads the Decree. Wireless is to be removed from all Cyprus kindergartens, and wireless installations have been halted in elementary schools and limited to administrative offices.

“The Ministry of Education does not intend to proceed with the installation of wireless points and Wi-Fi access classrooms in elementary schools.”

The Decree reminds teachers that wired internet is already available in all classrooms if the internet is needed for educational purposes. Wireless is only to be used, if needed, in the administrative areas of elementary schools, and wireless is not to be used in the classrooms.  

However, if the use of Wi-Fi is deemed necessary for a specific educational program, the Decree stipulates that, “necessary measures to protect children should be taken, and wireless access points should remain inactive when not in use for teaching purposes.” Furthermore, “the consent of parents should be ensured in advance.” The Decree instructs the School Directors to assure parental consent and send a letter to the parents of children who will participate in programs involving wireless technology - informing the parents of the reason and duration of Wi-Fi usage.           

                                                                                      

Alongside their other campaigns about tobacco smoke and toxic chemicals, The Cyprus National Committee on Environment and Child Health initiated a nationwide campaign several years ago to raise awareness about cell phone and wireless radiation exposures to children. The multimedia public awareness campaign was lauded at an international conference on Wireless and Health held at the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies at Hebrew University in January of 2017, and organized in cooperation with the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and Environmental Health Trust (EHT).

Dr. Stella Michaelidou, President of the National Committee on Environment and Child Health shared public service video announcements and brochures about children and pregnancy at the conference. “This Committee has developed tools that are a model for other countries to follow,” stated Devra Davis, PhD, MPH, of the Environmental Health Trust at the conference.

Several countries already have health policies in place to reduce school children's exposure to wireless. Cypress now joins France, Ghent in Belgium, and Israel in banning wireless in kindergarten classrooms and enacting strong measures to minimize wireless exposures in elementary schools. France passed comprehensive new legislation in 2015 and has developed tools to inform the public about how to reduce exposure, similar to the efforts underway in  Cyprus. Canada’s Standing Committee on Health of the House of Commons also issued a report recommending a public education campaign.

In the United States, the Maryland State Children's Environmental Health and Protection Advisory Council recently issued a Report advising the Department of Education to recommend all school districts in the State of Maryland install wired—rather than wireless—internet connections for classrooms. This action represents the first action of a state advisory body to issue guidance on wireless exposures. In Massachusetts and Oregon, several Bills have been proposed to address the health issues posed by electromagnetic radiation in schools and raised by consumers, researchers and medical professionals as concerns about school wireless exposures gains momentum in the United States.

From Environmental Health Trust

LINKS

Decree from the Cyprus Minister of Culture and Education

http://ehtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/Egkyklios-Jan-17.pdf

National Committee on Environment and Children's Health of Cyprus

http://www.cyprus-child-environment.org/easyconsole.cfm/id/12/lang/en

Maryland State Children's Environmental Health and Protection Advisory Council Recommendations

Local/State/National and International Policy action on Wireless and Children

Francis Douglas Memorial College is turning off the Wi-fi during breaks

School turning off wi-fi internet during lunch breaks to encourage students to talk to each other

Francis Douglas Memorial College is turning off the Wi-fi during breaks in the hope that students will get out and about more.

A secondary school in New Plymouth has started turning off its wi-fi internet network during breaks to encourage students to talk and play with each other.

On a sunny morning, the courtyard of the Francis Douglas Memorial College (FDMC) is a hive of activity and that's exactly what principal Martin Chamberlain wants to see.

Large groups of students at the New Plymouth school are playing handball and there are only a few youngsters on their phones.

"I think it's a big part of the college how we all play handball at the lunch times and it brings us closer all together as boys," 15-year-old Ethan Turner said.
Read it here http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/89972965/School-turning-off-wi-fi-internet-during-lunch-breaks-to-encourage-students-to-talk-to-each-other

California Department of Public Health Cell Phone Recommendations

The California Department of Public Health has released a draft of a document warning against cell phone radiation.  A Berkeley-based doctor, Joel Moskowitz, sued the state in 2016 under the California Public Records Act to get it released. 

Click Here To Download 

State kept secret guidelines on safe cell phone use

By Melody Gutierrez

 Updated 8:45 am, Friday, March 3, 2017

SACRAMENTO — For years, state health officials kept secret a set of guidelines meant to inform the public about the risks associated with cell phone use and the best practices to avoid potential harm.

On Thursday, the California Department of Public Health released the guidelines, which advise cell phone users to keep the devices away from their bodies, keep calls short and to use the speaker phone on lengthy calls. The guidelines were released only after a Sacramento Superior Court judge indicated she would order them to be disclosed, and after The Chronicle told the state it was publishing a news story about the case. http://ow.ly/93xb309ArzB

California NBC NEWS: Cell Phone Cancer Debate Heats Up

NBC Los Angeles: Cell Phone Cancer Debate Heats Up: California Dept of Public Health



CBS Local News: California State refuses to turn over public records

First State In The Nation: Maryland State Advisory Council Recommends Reducing School WiFi

First State In The Nation: Maryland State Advisory Council Recommends Reducing School WiFi

Children’s environmental health experts respond to new US study linking wireless radiofrequency radiation to cancer after the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends reducing radiofrequency exposures.

Read the press release online

After reviewing new and growing evidence on health risks of wireless radiation, the Maryland State Children's Environmental Health and Protection Advisory Council (CEHPAC) issued a Report advising the Department of Education to recommend local school districts reduce classroom wireless radiation exposures by providing wired—rather than wireless—internet connections. CEHPAC’s health experts include Governor appointed pediatricians, Maryland State House/Senate appointees and representatives of the Department of Education and Department of Health. The Council cited the recent US National Toxicology Program (NTP) findings of increased rates of rare malignant cancers in animals, as well as children’s unique vulnerability to the radiation.

For years, Devra Davis PhD, MPH and Theodora Scarato MSW of the Environmental Health Trust have presented testimony to the Council alongside dozens of parents and health advocates from across the state.  Several countries, such as France, Israel and Cyprus, already have such protective measures in place, this action to issue recommendations to reduce classroom wireless exposures is the first by an expert state body in the United States.

The Children's Environmental Health and Protection Advisory Council recommends:

1. “The Maryland State Department of Education should recommend that local school systems consider using wired devices“ “WiFi can be turned off” and instead “a wired local area network (LAN) can provide a reliable and secure form of networking...without any microwave electromagnetic field exposure.”
2. New construction and renovations: “If a new classroom is to be built, or electrical work is to be carried out in an existing classroom, network cables can be added at the same time, providing wired (not wireless) network access with minimal extra cost and time.”
3. The Maryland State Department of Education should recommend that local school systems use strategies to minimize exposures: “Have children place devices on desks to serve as barrier between the device and children’s bodies; Locate laptops in the classroom in a way that keeps pupil heads as far away from the laptop screens (where the antennas are) as practicable; Consider using screens designed to reduce eyestrain; Consider using a switch to shut down the router when it is not in use”.
4. “The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene should provide suggestions to the public on ways to reduce exposure: Sit away from WiFi routers, especially when people are using it to access the internet. Turn off the wireless on your laptop when you are not using it. Turn off WiFi on smartphones and tablets when not surfing the web. Switch tablets to airplane mode to play games or watch videos stored on the device.”
5. “The General Assembly should consider funding education and research on electromagnetic radiation and health as schools add WiFi to classrooms.”
6. The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene should “ask the United States Department of Health and Human Services to formally petition the FCC to revisit the exposure limit to ensure it is protective of children’s health and that it relies on current science.”
7. The Report should be shared with the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Federal Communications Commission, Maryland State Department of Education and Maryland General Assembly

“While this report focused on WiFi radiation in schools, there are additional concerns about mobile phones and cell phone towers. CEHPAC plans to take a look at these broader issues over the next year,” the Report states.

Referring to the fact that US wireless public exposure limits were set in 1996, without testing for long term safety, the CEHPAC Council Report also stated that “decades-old standards need updating in light of new science.” Such statements are in line with the American Academy of Pediatrics, which has also called for a regulatory review and states that children’s brains are less mature and can absorb proportionately twice the wireless radiation as an adult because of children’s thinner skulls that contain more fluid.

“If you plan to watch a movie on your device, download it first, then switch to airplane mode while you watch in order to avoid unnecessary radiation exposure, ” recommends the American Academy of Pediatrics.

In response to the 2016 NTP study findings of a cancer link, the American Academy of Pediatrics, Consumer Reports,  Obstetricians and several Medical Associations  have issued recommendations to reduce cell phone and wireless exposures to children. The American Academy of Pediatrics has also called on the United States government to strengthen wireless exposure regulations to protect children and pregnant women.

“Our children’s healthy future rests on the responsible actions of today,” stated Theodora Scarato MSW, of Environmental Health Trust, who brought the issue to the Council in Spring of 2014. “21st century learning should include 21st century science,” Scarato points out about research showing wireless alters brain development in addition to cancer. “Corded non-wireless connections in school are an important part of a safe and healthy school environment, respecting not only our children but also the teachers and staff.”

The Council heard testimony from health organizations and from parents who reside in multiple counties in the State of Maryland, including Montgomery County, Prince Georges County, Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County and Howard County. The Council also received hundreds of pages of expert scientific material and comments prior to the final Report, which the Council has posted on their website.

“Parents have a right to know if there is an environmental hazard in the classroom and actions that can be taken to reduce exposure. The stakes are so high for our children, yet we are way behind what has been happening around the world. Over 20 countries have taken steps and in some cases passed legislation to protect their youngest and most vulnerable citizens and it is time we do the same for ours,” stated Montgomery County parent Laura Simon, pointing to countries like France, Cyprus and Israel.

Scarato described the process of how she brought the health issue of children’s exposures to wireless in schools to Maryland State agencies almost three years ago by first writing letters of concern about the school radiation exposures. “I was shocked to learn no government health agency had reviewed the issue from a health and safety standpoint considering how fast WiFi was being installed in schools across the State.” Dr. Sharfstein, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Health, initially responded to Scarato’s concern, “It is fair to say there are legitimate questions about the long term health implications of microwave radiation” and that the Department of Health “would be interested in the advice and counsel of groups such as the Children's Environmental Health and Protection Advisory Council.”

Scarato pointed out that the Education Department representative on the Council voted in favor of the CEHPAC recommendations to reduce wireless exposures.” The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) also had responded to Scarato’s initial concerns by referring her to CEHPAC which “exists for the purpose of identifying environmental hazards that may affect children’s health and recommending solutions to those hazards.”  

In 2017, Maryland lawmakers will consider a bill to to create uniform screen safety guidelines for public schools “to protect children from the documented health hazards posed by daily use of digital devices.” Medical researchers are pointing to an array of psychological, emotional, and health issues screens pose to children at the same time that schools are integrating wireless networks and one to one device initiatives into classrooms. In response to these health concerns, many schools worldwide are replacing wireless systems with wired systems, limiting time children spend on screens and developing policy to address health concerns posed by school wireless networks.  

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Wii Radiation in Schools in Maryland Final Report of the Maryland Children's Environmental Health and Protection Advisory Council

Letters from Physicians CEHPAC’s Public Comments

Maryland State Children's Environmental Health and Protection Advisory Council Website

Local/State/National and International Policy Action on Wireless and Children

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

AAP Letter  to FCC and FDA Commissioners

AAP Letter to US Representative Dennis Kucinich in Support of the Cell Phone Right to Know Act

The AAP responds to study showing link between cell phone radiation, tumors in rats.

American Academy of Pediatrics Website: Healthy Children.org Cell Phone Radiation & Children’s Health: What Parents Need to Know

Watch Videos of Testimony and Related Below

For All Public Comment Please Go To Our Youtube Playlist Here. 

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Dr. Scott Becker, Director Michigan State University Counseling Center on Mental Health and Screens

University of Michigan Video Webinar: This is your brain online: The impact of Technology on Mental Health

 Presented to the Michigan State University Pre-College Program Faculty and Staff Workshop, March 25, 2015 Scott Becker, Ph.D. Acting Director MSU Counseling Center.



Powerpoint from 2015 talk 

Click here to see the full Powerpoint Presentation

Slide 31

Effect of signal on sleep

 ▪ The radio frequency wave energy [884 MHZ] that comes from mobile phones leads to enhanced insomnia, headaches and concentration difficulties.

 ▪ The researchers concluded that those who were exposed to the radio frequency took longer to fall asleep and did not sleep as well throughout the night