Sunday, 8 May 2016

Letter to Prime Minister Trudeau on Wifi in Schools

Dear Prime Minister Trudeau,

My name is xxxxx. I am teacher in Edmonton, Alberta, and am a Canadian Teacher who is extremely thankful for the information that Jerry Flynn shared with you in his e-mail of 4/14/16 about the serious health (and security) risks that wireless radiation is posing to Canadian citizens, and in particular, to children in school. I spearhead Alberta Safe Schools, and also a volunteer as the Alberta Lead for Canadians for Safe Technology (C4ST), founded and led by former President of Microsoft Canada, Frank Clegg.  

You will see from the attached letter that I am not the only teacher concerned about serious multigenerational health risks, but also about the failure of schools to accommodate students and teachers who suffer Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), and require accommodations for medical reasons as required by the Canadian Human Rights Act. Some of the largest Teachers' Unions in Canada are calling for a moratorium on WiFi due to peer reviewed health effects.  Teachers are being forced into early retirement, or unpaid medical leaves due to adverse effects of powerful industrial strength WiFi systems in schools. Articles from the Canadian Teachers’ Magazine, and the Alberta Teachers’ Association as referenced in exhibit A (below), reinforce that this is an urgent matter that will affect all Canadians and future generations for years to come.

Although I am putting my job at risk by sharing this story about students becoming sick from WiFi at school, I know it needs to be told in order to protect our children and to illustrate why students across the country need your help. After WiFi was installed at one school I worked at a few years ago, students reported a rash of health complaints. Students became sick complaining excessively about headaches, dizziness, heart palpitations, nausea and earaches. After sending them to the office so many times, when they would share the same concerns, I would just tell them to get a drink of water and to put their heads down on their desks.

A short time later, I read about the potential myriad of health issues from WiFi (as well as smart meters, cell towers, cell phones, baby monitors), and learned the World Health Organization classified wireless radiation as a Class 2B possible carcinogen. Putting 2 and 2 together, and thinking surely it must be a mistake to be radiating our children with a possible carcinogen without parents' permission (surely we could not do this knowingly without parent consent), I unplugged the WiFi system in my classroom, and their symptoms greatly improved. One boy who had such horrible earaches that he would have to regularly call his dad to pick him up to go home, never had another earache for the rest of the year. Overall, many of the students’ health complaints went away, or were greatly reduced once I unplugged the router in my classroom.

After reporting student illnesses and personal symptoms multiple times to Health Canada, I was told my students could not be getting sick from WiFi since Canadian guidelines on radiofrequency (RF) radiation protect us, but they were. I was told by my school board there was no concern, since levels of radiation in the classroom are below Health Canada's guidelines. I continue to hear students complain of various microwave sickness symptoms on a daily basis but am assured standards protect them. Teachers are reporting getting tumours where they wear FM wireless amplification devices on the bodies.

What Health Canada does not share is that standards are based on a 220 pound adult male, that children absorb up to 10X more radiation into their bone marrow than adults, or the fact that standards do not protect pregnant women. Standards are based on a single 6 minute exposure to a cell phone, and are not based on a classroom of 25+ students all using laptops and cell phones for the entire school day. They do not share that safety user information says not to put wireless devices within a certain distance from your body. They do not share that levels of radiation in a classroom are similar or higher than having a cell tower directly in the classroom. You can read more about common misconceptions on the C4ST Mythbuster Fact Sheet http://c4st.org/HCmythbuster. (exhibit B below)

A report from the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Health, whose mandate is to oversee Health Canada, "Radiofrequency Radiation and The Health of Canadians, (2015)" http://www.c4st.org/HESA2015, unanimously supported 12 recommendations, one of which was to reduce exposure in home and school settings, sharing "the potential risks of exposure to RF fields are a serious public health issue that needs to be brought to the attention of Canadians."

Health Canada is failing in its duty to advise Canadians about any potential risks. Furthermore, they admitted in Parliament, that some studies did in fact find adverse health effects at levels BELOW Health Canada guidelines. Effects of concern.

Unfortunately this is nothing new. After a report from Standing Committee on Health (2010), 6 years ago, an article in the Toronto Sun pointed out that alarmingly Health Canada "has largely ignored advice issued by the Standing Committee on Health on microwave radiation" http://www.torontosun.com/2011/11/14/govt-accused-of-dragging-feet-on-radiation-recommendations . At that time, the NDP complimentary report to aforementioned report  noted:

"Concerned parents who fear their children are being exposed in classrooms to a dangerous technology, when less-contentious options exists that can deliver the same benefit, must have public options available to them. If the ‘unaccepted’ science is in fact correct, Canada will face larger health care costs for the treatment of biological effects including cancers and fertility problems. With this in mind, children should not be forced to be exposed to this technology in their schools until it is actually proven safe, not just theoretical acceptable.

Please read the attached letter outlining the health disaster our students our facing and the attached C4ST Fact sheet referencing Health Canada's admission that studies have found serious health effects at levels BELOW current guidelines.

A national emergency is unfolding before our eyes which you have the power to stop. I urge you as the Prime Minister to take up the call to educate Canadians on the risks of wireless exposure and to ensure that schools reduce the risks in order to guarantee safer learning environments for students. Simple steps such as turning off WiFi when not in use, and teaching students to use airplane mode when not connected to the internet would go a long way to reducing the risks.

I would be happy to follow up with a presentation on this issue or to provide further information. Having been invited by an Edmonton Catholic School Board Trustee to present at an Alberta School Board Association to over 25 School Boards on this issue, I am well prepared to do a presentation for you at your convenience. For your information, I have attached a copy of the presentation I reference. (exhibit C below)  Please note there are slide notes that accompany many of the images.

While we are not yet at the point of even taking precautions such as turning WiFi off when not in use and ensuring safety information is followed, other governments have recently banned WiFi altogether due to health concerns http://www.odwyerpr.com/story/public/6751/2016-04-20/israel-wi-fi-breakthroughs-tv-documentary-school-ban.html. Students and teachers, like myself, are suffering from adverse effects, and we need your help today.

Thank you for considering my request. I look forward to a continued discussion about this issue. Please contact me to arrange a presentation, or for additional information. A wealth of information can also be found at www.c4st.org. <http://www.c4st.org./>


Kind regards,
X



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