By B.N. Frank

The new bill goes into effect in September for the start of the new academic year.  It requires pupils in elementary and junior high school to keep their devices in bags or out of sight.

Before the new bill passed, about half of France’s 51,000 elementary schools and 7,000 junior high schools had already outlawed student use of cell phones. 

The bill is being referred to as a “detox measure” aimed at decreasing student communication through texting and social media.  Proponents hope it will also reduce bullying and improve “camaraderie.”  They are asking it be combined with a campaign to educate everyone on the importance of limiting students’ phone use.

Cell phone abuse by students in American schools is not a new issue.  “Digital Addiction” among American children and teenagers is also making national headlines.

Research proving harm from exposure from digital devices has been reported by the media for many years already.  No “safe” level of cell phone or wireless WiFi radiation has still been scientifically determined for children or pregnant women.

In 2011, The World Health Organization classified all sources of wireless WiFi radiation as a Possible Carcinogen.  Many scientists believe it should be classified as a Carcinogen.

The potential for harm from exposure is much worse for children:.

“Children’s skulls and scalps are thinner. So the radiation can penetrate deeper into the brain of children and young adults. Their cells are at a dividing faster rate, so the impact of radiation can be much larger.” said Black of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

In addition to cancer risk, 2012 research confirmed that all sources of wireless WiFi radiation disrupt the blood-brain barrier which can cause it to leak.

The National Institutes of Health has published alarming research as well.

More schools are replacing WiFi with wired Internet because of this research.  They are following “The Precautionary Principle.”

If your children are having any type of behavioral, emotional, mental or physical health issues, lab testing may determine if some or all of this is because of “Microwave Sickness” aka “ElectroSensitivity” (ES).  There are so many symptoms that this is often misdiagnosed.

In 2010, experts determined that up to 1/3 of us are sensitive to some degree and 3% are clinically hypersensitive to exposure to cell phone and wireless WiFi radiation and other sources of Electrical Pollution (aka Electrosmog). 

Exposure can also worsen pre-existing conditions even if it didn’t cause them.

What’s particularly difficult about the situation in the United States is that public schools have been encouraged to become “high tech.”  This puts students on computers in the classroom at an early age.  This requires students use technology to also do homework outside of the classroom.

How can this not encourage the inappropriate and unhealthy use of all sources of technology (including cell phones) in and out of the classroom?