Having just watched the last half hour of Panorama I feel slightly uneasy. If you missed it, you can watch it here.
Not being a scientist, I have always taken the opinion of others far more knowledgeable than I as my guide. I like many others involved in providing advice in education have sought to give the best advice available to schools and other interested parties regarding the provision of both hardware and infrastructure.
I remember looking into the science and advice being offered by the WHO and ICNIRP regarding safe operating levels for Wi-Fi in schools. I was releaved to read on their websites that the level of radiation emitted from Wi-Fi antennae were in the order of 300 times lower than that which we should be concerned about. Not being a scientist, the ‘official’ voice of the WHO was enough confirm in my mind the safety of such devices, and to silence the many other items I had read on the net saying otherwise.
Yet now as I type this I’m troubled. I’m troubled that the WHO may be wrong. I’m troubled that maybe Wi-Fi isn’t as safe as we were led to believe. I’m troubled that there may be more people than we realise that are electro-sensitive.
If you are involved in providing advice and guidance for schools on this issue, what will your story be tomorrow? BBC1 draws a huge audience. I can imagine many parents asking very good questions of both schools and local authorities. Should our line of argument be that the WHO says it’s ok? I’m not so sure.
I wonder if exposure to radiation affects other things too – could there be links between this and behaviour disorders in children and adolescents? I’ve always been a great believer in the power of both diet and good parenting here, but perhaps there are numerous other factors that contribute to physical, emotional and mental development of our young people that we have not even thought to consider.
So I’m left with a question – should the router stay on? How would life be tethered?
