Homeschooling and Governesses provide excellent opportunities for wi-fi free school environments
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Anonymous
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LOL
at your own risk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ld8pCSjNcA |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
| My governess was the best. She encouraged us to be creative at every turn, making clothes out of drapes and teaching us songs as we rode around the village on our bicycles. If it weren't for those damn Nazis! |
Anonymous
Given that your governess married your dad, I doubt DCUM would allow nubile, blonde governesses in their homes. |
Anonymous
Our governess was with the resistance. She rode her bike when with us kids during the day and her Airborne at night. It was the perfect front. She was a hair's breadth away from assassinating Hitler but at the last second my baby brother caught a glimpse of her from across the square, squealed with delight, pointed and blurted out her name. For some things in life, you only get one chance. Sigh. |
Anonymous
Ugh, please see Prince Charles in your history section. |
Anonymous
your loss, our gain - as she magically appeared at our doorstep However, if you live nearby, perhaps we could do a governess share? |
Anonymous
| It is only funny until you get brain tumor. |
Anonymous
Our governess gave us brain tumors too. The really weird thing is that they cleared up as soon as she departed. Weird. |
Anonymous
Seriously? Have you never seen "Mary Poppins"?? 
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Anonymous
Who? Our governess was not named Mary but she did take care of everything. She was plump and easy to hug. She just had fat in all the right places, probably from all those homemade schnitzerdierndelainas she used to make. My mother tried so hard to learn her recipe, because my father loved them so much, but they never turned out the same for her. Only our governess could make them just right. I can still see her with powdered sugar on the end of her nose and chin -- she said it helped the medicine go down, LOL -- licking the fat off her fingers. That was what did her in: my mother thought we would pick up bad table manners from her, which to my mother's generation was a sure sign of maternal failure. One night at the dinner table my father licked his fingers, and the next day our governess was gone. Poof, just like that. It was like she just floated up with the breeze, on to another family. We never saw her again. Sigh. |
Anonymous
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Bullying is alive and well on the DC Urban moms forum. This thread is a great example of this.
This issue is a serious health matter that governments are spending millions addressing. The interactions here also speak volumes to just how environmental health matters go unattended to in this country. I find it hard to believe the writer is a parent. Thank you for opening up my eyes to this issue however. While your head is in the sand and in a Mary Poppins movie, mine is on taking care of my family and getting a non wifi modem. |
Anonymous
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Ignorance is bliss.
INTERNATIONAL PRECAUTIONARY ACTIONS on WIFI and Children From EHTRUST.org No medical or scientific organization states low level microwaves are “safe”. Due to the accumulating research showing biological impacts from wireless radiation governments and health authorities around the world are taking action to minimize exposure. “The IARC 2B classification implies an assurance of safety that cannot be offered—a particular concern, given the prospect that most of the world’s population will have lifelong exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields.” - Dr. Jonathan Samet, physician and epidemiologist,, Chair of the World Health Organization’s EMF Working Group who made the Class 2 B classification, in a 2014 Commentary. France: New Legislation and the National Agency for Health, Food and Environmental Safety (ANSES). 2013 The French National Assembly passed an amendment banning WiFi from nursery Schools and strongly discouraging Wi-Fi in their schools until its proven “safe for human consumption.” 2011 French Cell Phone Statute: Merchants must display SAR Radiation levels for different phone models, all phones must be sold with a headset, cell phone ads aimed at children younger than 14 are banned and phones made for children under 6 are banned. 2013 ANSES Report recommends hands free phones, SAR labeling, and “limiting the population's exposure to radiofrequencies… especially for children and intensive users, and controlling the overall exposure that results from relay antennas.” The French National Library along with other libraries in Paris, and a number of universities have removed all Wi-Fi networks. Herouville-Saint-Clair has removed all Wi-Fi equipment installed in municipal facilities. Priority was given to schools. WiFi is replaced in almost all schools by fiber optic cable. Belgium: Federal Public Health Regulations on March 2013 due to Health Concerns for Children. Phones designed for children under 7 years old are prohibited from sale. Total Advertising Ban on cell phones aimed at children younger than 14. Mandatory Radiation SAR levels must be available for consumers at point of sale. Warning label on phones: “Think about your health – use your mobile phone moderately, make your calls wearing an earpiece and choose a set with a lower SAR value.” Recommendations include use of hands-free methods to keep the phone away from the body such as text messaging and not making calls when the signal is weak, such as in an elevator or in a moving vehicle. Australia: In 2013 the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency issued Fact Sheet 14: titled How to Reduce exposure from mobile phones and other wireless devices. Reduce the risk from WiFi devices by “keeping them at a distance, for example placing the wireless router away from where people spend time”, and “reducing the amount of time you use them”. “ARPANSA recommends that parents encourage their children to limit their exposure.” Finland: The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority issued recommendations for children which include: favoring text messages, parents limiting duration and amount of calls,the use of hands free devices, avoiding calls in a low reception area and keeping the phone away from the body. "With children, we have reason to be especially careful, because there is not enough research on children's mobile phone use. Unfortunately, it will not be easy to obtain this information in the future, either, because of ethical considerations, the use of children as research subjects must always be heavily justified", according to STUK research director Sisko Salomaa. Israel: The Israeli Ministry Of Education has issued guidelines limiting WiFi and cell phone use in schools. Preschool through 2nd grade have banned the use of wireless networks. A hard wired direct cable connection is required if the teacher has a computer in the class. The Israeli Supreme Court Has ordered the Israeli government to reply why Wifi installations should not cease by July 2014. In third and fourth grade class internet is restricted to 3 hours per week. The Education Ministry has instructed all schools to perform radiation tests. Israel's Minister of Health Rabi Litzman stated that he supports a ban on Wi-Fi in schools. Switzerland: The Governing Council of Thurgau Canton 2008 “The Governing Council recommends for schools to forgo the use of wireless networks when the structural makeup of a given school building allows for a wired network.“ Germany: The German Federal Ministry for Radiation Protection states,”supplementary precautionary measures such as wired cable alternatives are to be preferred to the WLAN system.” Bavaria: The State Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs: “For precautionary reasons the Federal Office for Radiation Protection recommends for schools that if a wireless network is used to place its components in suitable locations and to prefer the use of wired network solutions whenever possible.” In 2007 Parliament recommendation to all schools to not install wireless LAN networks. Frankfurt: “In Frankfurt’s schools there will be no wireless networks in the short or mid term. The Local Education Authority did not wish to conduct a “large scale human experiment,” said Michael Damian, spokesperson of the Head of the School Department Jutta Ebeling. Austria: "The official advice of the Public Health Department of the Salzburg Region is not to use WLAN and DECT in Schools or Kindergartens.” -Gerd Oberfeld, MD. The Austrian Medical Society has issues cell phone safety guidelines stating that cell phones should be used for as short of a time as possible and that children under 16 should not use cell phones at all. The state that wireless LAN leads to high microwave exposure. United Kingdom: The UK National Health Service has specific Recommendations for children and cell phones as “children are thought to be at higher risk of health implications”. “Children should only use mobile phones for essential purposes and keep all calls short. “ For the public they have “recommendations to help lower any potential long-term risks” which include keeping calls short, keep phone away from the body on standby mode, only use it when the reception is strong and use a phone with an external antenna. India: 2012 The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology issued EMF guidelines with new Exposure Limits lowered to 1/10 of the ICNIRP level, SAR labeling on phones. Official guidelines for cell phone use include: Headsets, Speakerphones, limiting cell use, increasing distance from devices, and choosing landlines. 2013: Supreme Court of India upholds a decision of the High Court of the State of Rajasthan to remove all cell towers from the vicinity of schools, colleges, hospitals and playgrounds because of radiation “hazardous to life.” The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has a webpage entitled “ A Journey for EMF” detailing guidelines and current issues with wireless devices and cell towers. Italy: The Italian Supreme Court ruled a man’s brain tumor was caused by his cell phone use in 2012. The National Institute for Workmen’s Compensation must compensate a worker with head tumor due to cell use. Russia: The Russian National Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection has repeatedly warned about electromagnetic radiation impacts on children and recommended WiFi not be used in schools. “Thus, for the first time in the human history, children using mobile telecommunications along with the adult population are included into the health risk group due to the RF EMF exposure.” “In children, the amount of so-called stem cells is larger than in adults and the stem cells were shown to be the most sensitive to RF EMF exposure.” “It is reasonable to set limits on mobile telecommunications use by children and adolescents, including ban on all types of advertisement of mobile telecommunications for children.” Decision of Russian National Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection 2008, "CHILDREN AND MOBILE PHONES: THE HEALTH OF THE FOLLOWING GENERATIONS IS IN DANGER.” Canada: Health Canada offers “Practical Advice” on reducing exposure to wireless radiation. Recommendations: 1. Limit the length of cell phone calls, 2. Replace cell phone calls with text, use "hands-free" devices and 3. Encourage children under the age of 18 to limit their cell phone usage “Health Canada reminds cell phone users that they can take practical measures to reduce RF exposure. The department encourages parents to reduce their children's RF exposure from cell phones since children are typically more sensitive to a variety of environmental agents...There is a lack of scientific information regarding the potential health impacts of cell phones on children.” European Environment Agency: “All reasonable measures to be taken to reduce exposures to electromagnetic fields, especially radiofrequencies from mobile phones and particularly the exposures to children and young adults. Current exposure limits to be reconsidered.” Resolution 1815: In 2011 The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe issued The Potential Dangers of Electromagnetic Fields and Their Effect on the Environment. A call to European governments to “take all reasonable measures” to reduce exposure to electromagnetic fields “particularly the exposure to children and young people who seem to be most at risk from head tumours.” The Resolution calls for member states to: Implement “information campaigns about the risk of biological effects on the environment and human health, especially targeting children and young people of reproductive age. “ “Reconsider the scientific basis for the present standards on exposure to electromagnetic fields set by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection, which have serious limitations, and apply ALARA principles, covering both thermal effects and the athermic or biological effects of electromagnetic emissions or radiation.” “For children in general, and particularly in schools and classrooms, give preference to wired Internet connections, and strictly regulate the use of mobile phones by schoolchildren on school premises.” The European Environment Agency Report “Late Lessons from Early Warnings, Volume II” 2013 Report details the accumulating science on radio frequency radiation, the significant risks of waiting and critical need to take precautionary action to reduce exposures to avoid widespread harm. United States: Legislation has been introduced at the state and national level. Some Communities have issued proclamations, resolutions and and started initiatives to inform the public of wireless health issues. 2012 The Cell Phone Right to Know Act H.R. 6358 was introduced receiving strong support from many organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics. (AAP Letter here.) This legislation called for labels on mobile devices at point of sale, a comprehensive national research program to study whether exposure to wireless devices causes adverse biological effects directed by NIEHS and the EPA and exposure level regulation. 2014 The Maine LD 1013 "The Wireless Information Act" passed the State Senate and House but then failed to pass the second vote. The Bill requires manufacturer's information on radio-frequency exposure be visible on the outside of the cell phone's product packaging. 2014 Hawaii Senate Bill SB 2571 was introduced calling for a warning label encouraging consumers to follow the enclosed product safety guidelines to reduce exposure to radiation that may be hazardous to their health. The San Francisco Cell Phone Right to Know Ordinance was signed in 2011 requiring cell phone retailers to distribute an educational sheet created by the San Francisco Department of Environment that explains radiofrequency emissions from cell phones and how consumers can minimize their exposure. The CTIA sued the city and settled with the City to block implementation of the Ordinance in exchange for a waiver of attorneys' fees. The City still maintains a Cell Phone Information page with significant information on how to reduce exposure. 2012, Jackson Hole, Wyoming made a Proclamation of Cell Phone Safety which cites concern over long term health effects as well as the increased risk the radiation poses to children. Pembroke Pines, Florida passed Resolution 3362 which expressed the City's "Urgent Concerns" about Wireless Radiation and Health, encourages citizens to read their manuals and presents information on how to reduce exposure by using a headset or speakerphone. 2010 Burlingame California City Council voted to include cell phone safety guidelines in their Healthy Living in Burlingame initiative which include the WHO classification and precautions a consumer can take if concerned. 2010, Portland Maine, Mayor Nicholas M. Mavodenes, Jr. declared October “Cell Phone Awareness Month” Past Proposed Legislation includes SB 932 California, HM 32, New Mexico, HB 1408 Pennsylvania, and SB 679 Oregon. Examples of Schools Implementing Best Practices 2014: UPPER Sturt Primary School, Australia opts for “No WIFI” 2014: The St. Augustine School in Italy turned off Wifi and goes back to Wires. 2013 Winlaw Elementary School, B.C. Canada turned off WiFi. 2013 Te Horo Primary School New Zealand Replaced WIFI with cable-based internet. 2013 Kootenay Lakes District School Board BC (One school without Wi-Fi) 2013 Blaise-Cendrars High School, Switzerland. Teachers vote to remove WiFi. 2012 Kivioja primary school in Ylivieska Finland bans phones and minimizes Wireless. 2011 City of Lakes Waldorf School, Minneapolis, Minnesota USA 2011 Aurora School in Ontario removed Wifi and replaced with hardwired. 2011 North Cariboo Christian School in Quesnel, B.C., removed Wi-fi . 2011 Pretty River Academy in Ontario no WiFi. 2011 Wayside Academy, Peterborough, Ontario no Wi Fi. 2010 Surrey, BC Roots and Wings Montessori removed Wi-Fi. 2010 Ontario St. Vincent Euphrasia elementary school: Parents voted to turn off Wi-Fi. 2009 HEROUVILLE-SAINT-CLAIR wi-fi networks removed. Parent Teacher Organizations 2013 Canadian Teacher Federation’s Brief (200,000 elementary and secondary school teachers) “CTF is concerned about the lack of definitive research regarding the adverse health effects of Wi-Fi. “We propose a prudent approach to the use of Wi-Fi, especially where children are present.” “We recommend an education program regarding the relative safety of Wi-Fi exposure and that appropriate resources be developed to educate the public regarding ways to avoid potential exposure risks of Wi-Fi access points and devices.” “Pedagogical needs could be met in schools with an approach that limits exposure to Wi-Fi.” 2013 United Teachers of Los Angeles, representing 40,000 teachers and staff Resolution passed: “I move that UTLA will abide by current National NEA Policy for Environmentally Safe Schools which states that all employees and stakeholders should be informed when there are changes in their exposure to environmental hazards including electromagnetic radiation and that all stakeholders and the public should be notified of any actual and potential hazards.” 2013 Elementary Teacher's Federation of Ontario - over 76,000 teachers Label the location Of Wi-Fi access points. Develop a hazard control program related to wireless microwave radiation through JHSC. 2012; The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (45,000 Ontario teachers) Recommends a wired infrastructure as WIFI “may present a potential Health and Safety risk or hazard in the workplace...The safety of this technology has not thoroughly been researched and therefore the precautionary principle and prudent avoidance of exposure should be practiced.” 2010 : UK VOICE ;The Union for Education Professionals- 20,000 members "Voice has advocated that new Wi-Fi systems should not be installed in schools, that existing systems should be turned off when not required and that schools should consider whether they really need to use Wi-Fi, which was developed to facilitate Internet access on the move rather than to be used as a convenient alternative to cables in dedicated IT facilities.” 2010 Greater Victoria Teachers' Association Wi-Fi free zones should be available. On/Off routers recommended and record any adverse Wi-Fi health effects. Minimal or non-use within elementary schools. 2013 BC Teachers Federation adopted Wireless Resolutions and Proposed Resolutions “The BCTF supports members who are suffering from Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity by ensuring their medical needs are accommodated in the workplace.” Proposed Resolutions “the World Health Organization's classification of radiofrequency/electromagnetic fields emitted by wireless devices as a 2B possible cancer risk to humans; that the BCTF ensures all teachers have the right to work in a safe environment, including the right to work in a Wi-Fi/ wireless-free environment.” Recommendation to the Ministry of Education that school boards “begin immediate installation of on/off switches for Wi-Fi routers in schools, thereby reducing microwave radiation exposure and reducing health risks to members, and/or provide safer Ethernet cables or fibre optics”. 2013 The BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils (BCCPAC) of 821 Advisory Councils representing over 500,000 parents in British Columbia passed two resolutions. Resolution 17 "calls on each Board of Education to have one public school at each education level that is free of Wi-Fi, cordless phones and cell phones. This school will only be equipped with wired computers and wired telephones for personal, educational and administrative purposes." Resolution 18 calls on Boards of Education to "cease to install Wi-Fi and other wireless networks in schools where other networking technology is feasible." passed with a clear majority. 2008 Lucerne Elementary Secondary Arrow Lakes District SD 10 New Denver BC, Canada Opts for “No WIFI “The National Education Association believes that all educational facilities must have healthy indoor air quality, be smoke-free, be safe from environmental and chemical hazards, and be safe from hazardous electromagnetic fields.” Section C-19 of the NEA 2013-2014 Resolutions DOCTORS AND SCIENTISTS APPEAL FOR STRICTER WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY REGULATION Vienna Resolution 1998 Salzburg Resolution 2000 Stewart Report, UK 2000 Declaration of Alcalá 2002 Catania Resolution 2002 Freiburger Appeal 2002 Bamberger Appeal 2004 Maintaler Appeal 2004 International Association of Fire Fighters Resolution on Cell Towers 2004 Coburger Appeal 2005 Oberammergauer Appeal 2005 Haibacher Appeal 2005 Pfarrkirchener Appeal 2005 Freienbacher Appeal 2005 Lichtenfelser Appeal 2005 Hofer Appeal 2005 Helsinki Appeal 2005 Parish Kirchner Appeal 2005 Saarlander Appeal 2005 Stockacher Appeal 2005 Vancouver School Resolution 2005 Benevento Resolution 2006 Allgäuer Appeal 2006 WiMax Appeal 2006 Schlüchterner appeal Brussels Appeal 2007 Venice Resolution 2008 Porto Alegre Resolution 2009 European Parliament EMF Resolution 2009 Dutch Appeal 2009 Int’l Appeal of Würzburg 2010 Copenhagen Resolution 2010 Seletun Consensus Statement 2010 Russian National Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection 2011 Potenza Picena Resolution 2011 World Health Organization 2011 Austrian Medical Association 2012 British Doctor Initiative 2013 BabySafe Project: Joint Statement on Pregnancy and Wireless Radiation 2014 |
Anonymous
| Ugh, this was just a lighthearted thread but you had to ruin it. You have the other thread to make your point; let us tell our Mary Poppins stories. |
Anonymous
(FYI, I agree with your opinion about WIFI in schools and I was still enjoying this thread.) |