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School Uniform To Block Cell Phone Emissions

Posted by samzenpus on from the luddite-high dept.

Foehg writes "ForeignPolicy.com reports, 'A Belarusian textile company has developed a special school uniform that protects kids from electromagnetic radiation emanating from their cellphones. The uniform features a dedicated pocket that can store the phone and make it safe for those who wear it.'" Now someone has to create an oven mitt that can protect you from the harmful radiation given off by your microwave oven.

7 of 153 comments (clear)

  1. I think this could be potentially good. by BlueKitties · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If it also blocks transmission, then students can keep their cell phone on them without worrying about disrupting class or losing their phone.

    --
    "Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad." [Ecclesiastes 7:3]
    1. Re:I think this could be potentially good. by eln · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If it blocks transmission, none of the students will use it for its intended purpose, because they want to text their friends in the middle of the day regardless of the rules. They'll just keep their cell phones in another pocket.

  2. This could be marginally useful to prevent ringing by mr_mischief · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is a pretty long string of "ifs", but it might be an idea for that Iowa schools that wants to use technical means to cut down on phone use during class.

    • if it blocks the radiation effectively enough to prevent reception sufficiently
    • if you require the kids to have their phone in it during class under normal circumstances
    • if you're willing to enforce the rule
    • if not all the kids are sufficiently sneaky to keep an unshielded phone from being found

    ... then this sort of Faraday enclosure, even if it's just a small separate bag and not part of the clothing, might fit the needs of schools that wish to prevent general disruption but still allow emergency use of the phones and to allow use of them between classes or at lunch.

  3. WTH? by Dr_Ken · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you don't want the students to make/receive calls or text msgs why let 'em have phones with them at all? Wouldn't it be cheaper just order them left in their lockers? Paying for uniforms to block them seems overly complicated and expensive for the very little good it does. This seems more like a scam on the part of a company that wants to feed at the trough of the education bureaucracy. Or so it seems to me.

    --
    "If you want to know what happens to you when you die, go look at some dead stuff."
  4. This is a ploy by the battery manufacturers by jeffmeden · · Score: 5, Funny

    A faraday cage in a pocket; to block cell phone signals from reaching the phone? The phones will just crank their output power to the max in a selfless attempt to communicate, and in turn the battery will probably be dead by lunchtime. It's almost as if cellphones need some sort of onboard switch that allows you to selectively decide when it's ON or OFF... No, that's probably too futuristic for most people to comprehend anyway.

  5. Re:Great! by ae1294 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No it's not. It's never about protecting the children.

  6. Re:Great! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The most effective way of reducing electromagnetic radiation from cellphones is to turn them off. The second most effective method is to install a femtocell in each classroom, allowing the cellphones to reduce the signal strength to almost nothing. A braindead method is to add lots of material which blocks cellphone transmissions, causing all cellphones to increase the output signal strength.