Former Microsoft Canada President: Wifi in Schools is a Potential Health Hazard
One of the bigger names in Canadian technology has come forth to speak out on a highly controversial topic. Frank Clegg, who worked at Microsoft for 15 years and was president of Microsoft Canada from 2000 to 2005, is opposed to wireless internet in schools.
"There are already children who can't go to school because of headaches, nausea and heart problems from the wireless systems," says Clegg. "Some of these kids have a doctor's note to prove it. This is a real hazard."
On Wednesday the American Academy of Environmental Medicine announced that medical doctors are treating patients who have fallen ill from school wireless systems. Clegg plans to address parents and teachers at a public meeting in Mississauga tonight at 7pm.
The debate of whether wifi is dangerous has been raging for years. In 2012, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association, which represents teachers from 1,400 schools, issued a report that suggested wifi is harmful to students and must not be installed in schools. Few agreed with the report, noting that wifi is already ubiquitous, at home and in malls—even children's hospitals. Premier Dalton McGuinty said that the report does not raise any new issues and that there is no valid reason not to install wifi in schools.
Speaking of the potential effects wifi exposure could have on people, Dalton told the Canadian Press last year that "I know that [Health Canada] continues to monitor these things very closely," noting that they have performed extensive worldwide research. "I place my confidence in them," Dalton said—not the Catholic union.
Similar battles have gone down in Edmonton, in Collingwood, in Vancouver, and elsewhere across Canada. But is wifi actually dangerous? We don't think so.
http://www.techvibes.com/blog/wifi-in-schools-is-a-potential-health-hazard-2013-05-10
To think is not the same as to know. If there might be risks and children are involved, then we must surely be cautious.
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