TIPS FOR REDUCING WIRELESS RADIATION

Protecting Children

Many experts studying connections between wireless radiation and health are concerned that infants and children may be at even greater risk than adults when it comes to exposure to this and other types of electro-pollution. They believe children’s small size, thinner skull, more absorbent brain tissue, and still-developing nervous system make them especially vulnerable. As a result, they urge parents, grandparents, childcare providers, and school officials to minimize children’s use of and exposure to wireless technology at home, school, and other places they spend significant time.

Here are some ideas for accomplishing this. Some of these strategies have been covered in other sections of this page, but are worth repeating here because of their importance for children.

  • Do not use a digital baby monitor in your infant’s room. Instead, consider trying a wired “nanny” camera or checking in on your infant frequently in person. If you really want to use a baby monitor, try to find an analog model rather than a digital one, and never place the monitor in your child’s crib or bed. Instead, place it in a spot within the room that is as far from your baby as possible.
  • Use a hard-wired Ethernet connection rather than Wi-Fi for accessing the Internet at home. If you want to keep your Wi-Fi network, turn it off at night while your family is sleeping and at other times when you are not using it actively.
  • Use hard-wired computer peripherals (e.g., monitors, keyboards, mice, speakers) with home computers.
  • Minimize cell phone use at home. Make at least one corded landline phone available, and encourage all family members to use this phone, rather cell phones, when making calls from home. Also create ways for family members to send text messages via a computer, using a hard-wired Internet connection. One way to do this is through Google Voice.
  • If you let your small children handle or play with your cell phone or tablet computer, make sure to place the device in airplane mode first. Instruct childcare providers to do the same.
  • When your children watch movies or TV shows, encourage them to watch from a television set at a safe distance, rather than from a wireless device at close range.
  • If children do watch movies or other media from a cell phone or tablet, create ways for them to do so with the device in airplane mode. For example, download movies or shows to the cell phone or tablet, and then switch the device to airplane mode while the kids watch. Or, consider purchasing Ethernet adapters that make it possible to stream media to the phone or tablet from a hard-wired Internet connection. (You can read more about this in the cell phone and computer sections of this page.)
  • Discourage children from using laptops or tablet computers on their laps. Have them place these devices on a table to put more distance between themselves and the devices. For extra protection, consider placing an EMF shield directly beneath the laptop or tablet.
  • Refrain from making cell phone calls in the car. This is a good idea all the time (for both EMF exposure and road safety reasons), but especially important when your children are with you.
  • Hold off on getting your children their own cell phones for as long as you can.
  • If your children do have their own cell phones, teach them strategies for reducing their exposure to radiation from these devices. For example, encourage them to text rather than talk whenever appropriate, and to use their phone’s speaker function or an air tube headset when talking. Also encourage them to keep their phones in airplane mode when they are not using them. And, discourage them from storing a cell phone close to their body (e.g., in a pockets, bra, head scarf, sock), especially if the phone is on.)
  • When buying family cars, consider getting “bare bones” models rather than models with all the “bells and whistles.” These days a number of upgrades available utilize wireless technology.

 

Ideas for Schools….

 

  • Advocate for wired rather than wireless Internet connections in classrooms and other areas of the school. (NOTE: The “industrial-strength” Wi-Fi systems often installed in schools are quite powerful and pollute these buildings with lots of wireless radiation.)
  • Set up workstations in classrooms that allow students to connect to hard-wired Internet via desktop or laptop computers. Do not provide students with tablet computers unless the devices have an Ethernet port or come with adapters that make Ethernet connections to the Internet possible.
  • Use hard-wired computer peripherals (e.g., monitors, keyboards, mice, speakers) with computers that do not have their own built in.
  • Make sure the wireless functionality of all computers, laptops, and tablets used by students and staff is turned off.
  • Consider instituting a “No Cell Phone” policy on campus.
  • Do NOT permit the installation of a cell antenna on the roof of the school! (Antennas on top of school buildings is more common than you would think. The money schools get paid to “host” an antenna is not worth the wireless pollution the devices create across the entire campus.)

See all tips to reduce your exposure