So...are the children suppose to live in the school and never leave? Because the second they step out the door they are bound to run into a few rogue hotspots.
Even out in the rural areas of the US, you can usually find a wi-fi signal.
Banning Wi-Fi From Schools
11–20 of 33 posts
Re: Banning Wi-Fi From Schools
#12This is a bit tangential to the main point of the story, but I was a student at the school that was torn down the author mentioned. It's sort of an interesting story, you can read more about it at [1]. I think it was mostly politics, it took over 5 years from the initial temporary closing of the school for the new middle school to be built. In the winter of 2001 we got an extra 2 weeks during winter vacation because they discovered the chemicals in the ground and the new school wasn't built until 2006. Apparently the safety of the teachers and students wasn't as important as spending 3 years squabbling about where to build the new one.
[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/14/nyregion/new-term-nears-to...
Re: Banning Wi-Fi From Schools
#13Happened in the UK, the same parents also overturned a ban on kids having cell phones. Apparently it's vital for their safety that they keep a 1W 1.8Ghz transmitter glued to their head at all times, but it's lethal to have a 100mW 2.4Ghz transmitter in another room.
Not to mention all the 10-100 W 400-800 THz transmitters they have in all the rooms. Worryingly, there are two structures in children's skulls, near the brain, that are particularly sensitive to these frequencies!
And I expect the average child emits more electromagnetic radiation than a wifi transmitter. Children should obviously be banned from schools then.
Re: Banning Wi-Fi From Schools
#14I'm confused. What's the advantage to wifi in schools? Is it just saving money on wiring the school with ethernet? Are students being permitted to take laptops into school now? I suppose the saving money argument is actually a pretty good one, but any new school will probably be wired anyway, so that should only apply to older construction.
I'm a teacher. Couple of good things: * We use laptops a lot in lessons, plus the kids can use their laptops/iPods/phones or whatever on the network as well. * We can move round the room much more easily than when using the ethernet cables, useful when using dataloggers in Science. * Useful for older parts of the school that aren't wired. * Useful outside
Very interesting, thanks.
Re: Banning Wi-Fi From Schools
#15I am always surprised by people's lack of critical thinking capabilities. I saw Michael Shermer (founder of Skeptic Magazine) speak at a conference recently. It was a little frightening how much data he has on the irrationality of our fellow man. The thing that frightens me the most is the areas I personally exhibit irrationality in that I don't know about . I'm actually OK being irrational if I know I am (I can make…
Curious is there is a transcript or video of the talk you mention...?
Re: Banning Wi-Fi From Schools
#16Can't wait for one big mesh (802.11s) to come standard on all devices - imagine a world where banning wifi and google/verizon cronyism are impossible (at least in metro areas).
Re: Banning Wi-Fi From Schools
#17I am always surprised by people's lack of critical thinking capabilities. I saw Michael Shermer (founder of Skeptic Magazine) speak at a conference recently. It was a little frightening how much data he has on the irrationality of our fellow man. The thing that frightens me the most is the areas I personally exhibit irrationality in that I don't know about . I'm actually OK being irrational if I know I am (I can make…
> wrap our houses in faraday cages
Hmm... I am concerned that the big solar flare might come one day and usher the world into a new dark age... or at least a victorian period of about 20 to 30 years.
Re: Banning Wi-Fi From Schools
#18So, these people are the ones who will eventually teach science and critical thinking to students?
Re: Banning Wi-Fi From Schools
#19Happened in the UK, the same parents also overturned a ban on kids having cell phones. Apparently it's vital for their safety that they keep a 1W 1.8Ghz transmitter glued to their head at all times, but it's lethal to have a 100mW 2.4Ghz transmitter in another room.
Not to mention all the 10-100 W 400-800 THz transmitters they have in all the rooms. Worryingly, there are two structures in children's skulls, near the brain, that are particularly sensitive to these frequencies! And I expect the average child emits more electromagnetic radiation than a wifi transmitter. Children should obviously be banned from schools then.
Not a problem with "Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses"
Re: Banning Wi-Fi From Schools
#20Even if the fear mongers are right and wifi microwave radiation is carcinogenic (ok, no proof of that but let's just say there is for a moment) then banning wifi in schools is not going to stop other wifi radiation from entering the schools from neighboring buildings.
I love my mother dearly but she had the same concern at home when I suggested my parents get wifi a few years back. I pointed out that if I turned her laptop on she could already see that there were 4 wifi base stations emitting microwave radiation that was passing through her brain anyway. So not getting wifi wasn't going to stop any risks (if there were any).