Wi-Fi fearing parents pull kids from school

[jimmy olsen]

Nutbags! 

http://www.metronews.ca/winnipeg/life/article/1032270--wi-fi-fearing-parents-pull-kids-from-school

LINDA SHEARMAN
Published: November 23, 2011 3:50 p.m.
Last modified: November 23, 2011 4:05 p.m.

TORONTO - A group of parents in a school district north of Toronto kept their children out of school Wednesday to protest the use of Wi-Fi in classrooms.

About 40 people, including a dozen kids from Grades 1 to 5, joined a picket line outside the York Region District School Board offices in Aurora, spokeswoman Christine Marrin said.

Parents are concerned that Wi-Fi could be exposing their children to radiation six hours a day, five days a week, for 40 weeks of the year, she said.

"There have been no studies on children to determine whether that level of exposure for that length of time is safe," said Marrin.

Earlier this year, the World Health Organization warned about a possible link between radiation from wireless devices such as cellphones and cancer.

Some believe wireless access to the Internet could pose similar risks. But while Health Canada cautioned parents to limit the use of cellphones by children, it said that based on scientific evidence, low-level exposure to Wi-Fi is not dangerous.

Marrin says it's too early to make that determination.

"This is the first generation of children that has been in that particular learning environment, so how Health Canada can say that it's safe is really quite a mystery to us," she said.

The Ontario government said in June it would examine the WHO warning but wouldn't take any immediate action to require warnings on wireless devices. The legislative buildings in Toronto will themselves soon have Wi-Fi.

Ontario Education Minister Laurel Broten says it's up to school boards in the province to make decisions about whether to use Wi-Fi or not.

"The best available information clearly indicates at this point in time that it is safe," said Broten.

"I am not a scientist but I can tell you it is important to us that our schools are safe and we believe that school boards each and every day make decisions to make sure that kids are safe in their schools."

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says she realizes many parents are concerned about the issue.

"It's worth keeping an eye on," she said.

Some Canadian private schools and at least one public school board in British Columbia have removed or strictly limited Wi-Fi due to safety concerns. But York Region and many other public school boards across Canada continue to use it.

"They are very firm in their position, they are standing behind Health Canada's assertion that Wi-Fi is safe for children. Of course, we disagree," said Marrin, adding the concerned parents have been asking for a face-to-face meeting with the York board.

[The Brain]

If they tell their kids it's bad for their health it certainly will be.

[Razgovory]

Well technically it is a form a electromagnetic radiation.  Of course those children have grown up around that radiation their entire lives as have their parents, and their parents and their parents...

[CountDeMoney]

Well technically it is a form a electromagnetic radiation.

So's a fucking wall clock.

Meanwhile, these goofball parents have absolutely no problem subjecting their children to the electromagnetic radiation of the idiot box for 8 hours a day.

[Capetan Mihali]

They need the kids at home to toughen them up with secondhand smoke before they send 'em out to the Wi-Fi fields.  Have to walk before you can run, you know.

[Razgovory]

Well technically it is a form a electromagnetic radiation.

So's a fucking wall clock.

Meanwhile, these goofball parents have absolutely no problem subjecting their children to the electromagnetic radiation of the idiot box for 8 hours a day.

Yeah.  I mean, the kids themselves emit some electromagnetic radiation.  I think Wifi operates using radio waves, so it's not like it' something out of the ordinary.

[Neil]

Well technically it is a form a electromagnetic radiation.

So's a fucking wall clock.

Meanwhile, these goofball parents have absolutely no problem subjecting their children to the electromagnetic radiation of the idiot box for 8 hours a day.

EM radiation is unavoidable.  Still, once some parents get something into their heads, there's not a lot you can do about it.  Especially stay-at-home moms.

[Caliga]

It'd be pretty cool if it really did kill everyone slowly over time, though, and like all of Western civilization went extinct except the Amish.

Amishman: Now that thee are gone tis OUR TIME TO SHINETH, ENGLISCHMENN!

[Capetan Mihali]

It'd be pretty cool if it really did kill everyone slowly over time, though, and like all of Western civilization went extinct except the Amish.

Amishman: Now that thee are gone tis OUR TIME TO SHINETH, ENGLISCHMENN!

I like the sci-fi possibilities of this scenario.  Technological dopes like us are quietly wiped out.  The Amish assume control of North America.  Those dying Siberian languages become the lingua franca of global commerce.  Throat singing tournaments replace Eurovision.  Lapps ride reindeer through the streets of a deserted Helsinki, periodically taking shelter in Nokia headquarters.  &c. &c.

[The Brain]

It'd be pretty cool if it really did kill everyone slowly over time, though, and like all of Western civilization went extinct except the Amish.

Amishman: Now that thee are gone tis OUR TIME TO SHINETH, ENGLISCHMENN!

Bishop Mullet won't let them enjoy it though.

[Caliga]

I like the sci-fi possibilities of this scenario.  Technological dopes like us are quietly wiped out.  The Amish assume control of North America.  Those dying Siberian languages become the lingua franca of global commerce.  Throat singing tournaments replace Eurovision.  Lapps ride reindeer through the streets of a deserted Helsinki, periodically taking shelter in Nokia headquarters.  &c. &c.

You should probably pitch this to Kim Stanley Robinson.

[Caliga]

Bishop Mullet won't let them enjoy it though.

Your knowledge of America: impressive.

[Ideologue]

I like the sci-fi possibilities of this scenario.  Technological dopes like us are quietly wiped out.  The Amish assume control of North America.  Those dying Siberian languages become the lingua franca of global commerce.  Throat singing tournaments replace Eurovision.  Lapps ride reindeer through the streets of a deserted Helsinki, periodically taking shelter in Nokia headquarters.  &c. &c.

You should probably pitch this to Kim Stanley Robinson.

I liked The Years of Rice and Salt a lot, despite its insistence that non-Westerners were likely build worthwhile societies without a Western model to emulate.  (Or that World War I-like conditions could endure for much longer than WWI itself lasted.  That was pretty stupid.  Did Kim skip high school the day they taught the part about how by 1918 every Goddamned country involved since the beginning was either in collapse, near collapse, or at least ready for peace?)

[Ed Anger]

I'd have to spend a fortune in foil to protect my brood.

[DontSayBanana]

They call it a radio for a reason.  Between Bluetooth, satellite radio, and the car stereo itself, there's much more intensive exposure to EM radiation when you lock kids in the metal box (read: "luxury SUV/minivan") soccer moms are so fond of for a half-hour each way while driving the little darling to their school.

Also, I'm sure some of these people have got routers that they leave plugged in at home.  If they're that concerned, use a fucking directional antenna.