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'Wi-Fi Illness' Spreads To Ontario Public Schools

An anonymous reader writes "Readers of Slashdot might be familiar with Lakehead University's ban on WiFi routers a few years ago in Thunder Bay, Ontario because of 'health concerns,' a policy apparently still in effect. Now it seems a group of concerned parents in a number of communities in Ontario have petitioned the local school boards over similar concerns at public schools, where their kids are apparently experiencing 'headaches to dizziness and nausea and even racing heart rates' — symptoms that appear only when they are in school on weekdays, not on weekends at home. 'The symptoms, which also include memory loss, trouble concentrating, skin rashes, hyperactivity, night sweats and insomnia, have been reported in 14 Ontario schools in Barrie, Bradford, Collingwood, Orillia and Wasaga Beach since the board decided to go wireless ...' Besides Wi-Fi signals, could there possibly be any other logical explanation for kids having more symptoms of illness on school days than at home on weekends or in the summer?"

9 of 663 comments (clear)

  1. Yeah... by mewshi_nya · · Score: 5, Interesting

    because stress NEVER causes any of those symptoms...

  2. It's Black Mold by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'll bet dollars to doughnuts it's a mold problem in the school. My guess is stachybotrys. Look It up, the symptoms match perfectly.

  3. Re:Hmmm.... by AnonymousClown · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Reminds me of a news segment about that peanut based food for Third World Children in order to get some protein in their diet. The reporter asked one of the docs supervising the program about peanut allergies. The doc responded that there are no peanut allergies in developing countries.

    --
    RIP America

    July 4, 1776 - September 11, 2001

  4. They banned WiFi on a floor of my last workplace by bolt_the_dhampir · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The lady who made them do it was feeling a lot better, and didn't have headaches anymore, until she saw me surfing wirelessly using a router located on the floor below. Signal strength was still perfectly fine...

  5. Re:Whats wrong with the children? by TheTurtlesMoves · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Its much worse than that. A parent can lead the child on in a way that the child *believes* its true. Even at quite old ages (~10) this is true and makes children's testimony very unreliable. This has come out after some child abuse cases. But heres the real rub. Leading statements like "did he do this to you", and "did he touch you there", has strong effects on our imagination. At all ages we can has some sort of experience from situations that we imagine. At a young age we often can't distinguish between real and imaged situations. They child not only believes it happened, but is traumatized in the same way as if it really happened.

    I don't have the references handy and i can't be bothered looking them up. But a few high profile cases have turned out to be total BS because one partner assumed, led the child on, and got the courts rolling on it. However there would be physical trauma related to the accusations. There was none. It never happened.

    --
    The Grey Goo disaster happened 3 billion years ago. This rock is covered in self replicating machines!
  6. Re:Mod the summary funny by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Another possible cause is mild oxygen starvation. Lecture theatres are often poorly ventilated. You end up with a lot of people breathing all of the air in the room and then starting to feel drowsy / unwell. A few minutes after you get outside, you feel fine again.

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  7. Re:Mod the summary funny by jcr · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Why are you convinced that schooling is the only way that someone can obtain an education?

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  8. Re:Mod the summary funny by EdIII · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You will notice he also said "various biological agents" and "that's just for starters". I agree that minerals are certainly normal in the water, but only when present in normal levels. There are plenty of examples all over the world where some minerals are present in dangerous levels, and some pretty unhealthy minerals like Arsenic.

    There are also the example of where the fuel additive MTBE has greatly contaminated many water sources in the US and has affected the trust we have in our government to provide clean water. Then there is also the case of fluoride being added to the water supply and the mind control conspiracies that go along with it. Personally, I don't think the government needs to add fluoride to the water I drink, regardless of conspiracies about its purpose. I am an adult, if I think I need fluoride supplements I will take them. By their logic why not infuse the water with various supplements and vitamins as well? Perhaps a fat government contract with the fine folks that provide us Vitamin Water?

    What about the biological agents? That is a real developing problem. Metabolized psychiatric and other drugs are present in water supplies all over the developed world. It is affecting fish species as we speak. If you are drinking tap water you ARE consuming some of these compounds, albeit in very small amounts they "deem" to be safe. Of course, there isn't exactly an abundance of data and studies yet that show us the real dangers either and what is really safe levels.

    As full disclosure I will say I have zero faith in the FDA and any of those cocksucking regulators either. I *never* knew that Tuna sold in the US had levels of mercury in it, in whatever amounts. As an effort to lose weight I went on an all Tuna diet with a lot of vegetables (not corn, or peas, but salad type vegetables) and got a really nice case of mercury poisoning. Later on I found out that powers that be let small amounts of mercury be sold in the fish and don't exactly bend over backwards to test it either. Probably because of dollar bills that keep falling out of the fish industry executive's pockets. Quite a nuisance I am sure. If there was even the smallest disclosure on the can that said there might be levels of mercury in it, I would have never eaten it at all. I miss Tuna quite a bit, but it is not safe to eat in any amounts whatsoever. Why? The recommended daily allowance of mercury in your diet is ZERO. Of course the allowed daily allowance is non-zero. Go figure.

    I know that the GP might have sounded a bit tin-foil-hattish to you, but there are plenty of justified reasons to not fully trust the people responsible for keeping our food and water supplies safe.

    Water quality is a particularly serious issue and the various municipalities and engineers responsible have not exactly instilled me with an abundance of faith in their efforts. As a result, I don't trust any water that has not directly gone through my own water filtration systems and I tend to take water with me during the day. That does not leave me with very many beverage options to be sure, but most of the crap out there is full of high fructose corn syrup, chemicals, and other super healthy additives. It is quite easy for me to abstain.

  9. Could be the water by gman003 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I can't speak for all schools, but my old middle school had horrible water. I actually did a side-by-side microscope comparison of fresh-from-the-tap to mudwater, and the school had more bacteria. Less sediment, but still more bacteria.

    First time a teacher regretted me actually doing my homework.