Framingham: Experts warn of wifi effects on children
By Danielle Ameden/Daily
News Staff
Posted Jun. 11, 2015 at 3:09
PM
FRAMINGHAM – At a forum
Wednesday night, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist, former president of Microsoft
Canada and other experts warned of the dangers of wireless radiation to
children.
The panelists told an audience at Plymouth Church that children’s
brains absorb more radiation than in adults, and research shows that
surrounding kids with technology devices is causing harm.
Dr. Devra Davis, founder of
Environmental Health Trust, said children today have toys that radiate energy,
from the digital “iPotty” to a plastic teething rattle iPhone case.
But
unbeknownst to parents, the World Health Organization lists cell phones as a
possible carcinogen to humans, Davis said, in the same category as jet fuel,
DDT, lead and engine exhaust.
“Would you give DDT, lead or
engine exhaust to your children to play with?” she asked.
As a former industry leader,
Frank Clegg, who led Microsoft Canada, said he is amazed by the impact
technology has had on lives. But he is now warning of the dangers as CEO of
Canadians for Safe Technology.
“If not used properly, I
think technology can be harmful,” he said.
Davis and the other speakers urged
those in the crowd to take steps to be safer, from putting phones on “airplane
mode” when possible to using hardwired Internet connections to following the
city of Berkley, California’s lead in adopting right-to-know laws.
“Unlike
some environmental problems, like global warming, this is something you can fix
tomorrow,” Davis said.
Cities and towns can pass cell phone right-to-know laws
that require public postings that tell users of devices how to use them safely,
Davis said.
Her organization launched
the website, showthefineprint.org, to spread the word.
Author Catherine
Steiner-Adair, who lives in Newton, said children today are gazing into a
screen 7 to 11 hours a day, more than any other activity in their life, and one
out of seven sets of parents allow their infants and toddlers to have screen
time for up to four hours a day.
She called it the “Magic of the iPad,” but
said those devices are neurological stimulants and society needs to stop
denying the ramifications.
Adults may joke they are “so
addicted” to their smartphones, yet they give children the same devices and are
really psychologically dependent, Steiner-Adair said.
“They function in our
lives like little blankies do for children,” she said.
In children, the devices are
causing deficits in language development and their capacity for frustration and
self-soothing, she said.
The problem is so severe in Asia, she said, that
5-year-olds, so psychologically addicted to devices, are in recovery treatment
therapy programs.
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