 |
Ontario Catholic teachers’ union calls for ban on Wi-Fi in schools
 |
Daily Brew
Canadian teachers apparently have been leery of Wi-Fi networks for some time but the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association is the first to declare that kids should pack tinfoil hats with their lunches if their school has Wi-Fi.
The Catholic teachers' union issued a report to its 45,000 members this week that concludes wireless Internet technology poses a "potential health and safety risk" to staff and students. It calls on the Ontario government to stop installations of Wi-Fi, saying it presents a "hazard in the workplace, Postmedia News reports.
The review recommends computers use hard-wired connections to the Internet in Ontario's 1,400 English Catholic schools.
"We think there is enough evidence to bring concerns and raise the question," association president Kevin O'Dwyer told Postmedia.
The recommendation comes despite Health Canada's position that there's no evidence exposure to Wi-Fi signals pose a risk.
"The safety of this technology has not thoroughly been researched and therefore the precautionary principle and prudent avoidance of exposure should be practised," the report says.
But several Ontario Catholic school boards are ignoring the report.
"It's a sexy topic right now to say Wi-Fi is hurting kids in schools but the research doesn't back that statement," Tom D'Amico, superintendent of student success and learning technologies at the Ottawa Catholic School Board, told Postmedia News.
He said a recent study found Wi-Fi radiation exposure is 100,000 times less than from a microwave oven, and that a year's exposure in school is about the same as talking on a cellphone for 20 minutes.
D'Amico said wireless Internet has been available in the board's 81 schools for the last three years.
Ontario Education Minister Laurel Broten said in a statement the province also stands by currently available research that Wi-Fi is harmless. She contacted Health Canada about the teachers' report but said it is up to school boards to set policies regarding the technology.
The Globe and Mail notes some private schools in Canada and one B.C. school district have restricted installation of wireless Internet.
The Catholic teachers, along with some concerned parents, point to a decision last year by the World Health Organization to classify radio-frequency electromagnetic fields as "a possible carcinogen." The move was based on research into the biological effects of cellphone use in adults and a lack of research on the radiation's long-term effects, the Globe reported.
"Wi-Fi has been rolled out too fast for science to keep up," Una St. Clair, a parent from the Vancouver area who moved her children into private schools in order to avoid exposure, told the Globe.
621 page views
|
|
|
|