Europe Calls for Ban on WiFi, Phones in Schools

We’re used to hearing people push for bans on phones in schools based on the fact that they’re distracting or disruptive. However, Europe feels that the devices should be banned for another reason entirely: They pose a health risk to children’s health.

The Council of Europe’s Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs has called for immediate action to protect children from the harms of mobile devices and other device emitting electromagnetic fields.

"While electrical and electromagnetic fields in certain frequency bands have wholly beneficial effects which are applied in medicine, other non-ionising frequencies, be they sourced from extremely low frequencies, power lines or certain high frequency waves used in the fields of radar, telecommunications and mobile telephony, appear to have more or less potentially harmful, non-thermal, biological effects on plants, insects and animals as well as the human body even when exposed to levels that are below the official threshold values," the Council said in its report, adding that as far as threshold values for emissions of electromagnetic fields are concerned, it recommends an "as low as reasonably achievable" ALRA principal be applied.

The Council of Europe, which has clout with EU member states but cannot force governments to follow its recommendations, suggested that all member states take drastic action to combat the negative effects of devices that emit electrical and electromagnetic fields. Its suggestions for EU member states include ad campaigns warning against the risks of prolonged use of certain types of devices, and banning all mobile phones, DECT phones or WiFi or WLAN systems from classrooms and schools. The Council also suggested clearly labelling products that emit electromagnetic fields and determining the sites of new GSM, UMTS, WiFi or WIMAX antennas with input from local/regional government officials, local residents and "associations of concerned citizens."

The debate surrounding the dangers of mobile phones is one almost as old as the phones themselves. Despite the fact that studies have yet to provide hard proof that using these kinds of devices can have an adverse effect on one’s health, newer studies are currently assessing the effects of long-term use and could yield different results. Professor Les Barclay, vice-chairman of the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme, spoke to the Telegraph and explained that though we haven’t had phones very long, mobile phones are emitting less and less powers and are well below the limits set by the Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection.

"We haven’t had mobile phones for very long and there are now studies going on to look for longer-term effects," said Barclay. "There is very little evidence at the moment for harmful effects. The powers that mobile phones emit are getting less and less, and they are well below the limits set by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection. Banning mobile phones and wireless networks in schools is a step too far in my eyes."

Further Reading

The Telegraph: Ban mobile phones and wireless networks in schools, say European leaders