Wi-Fi: Friend or Foe?

There seems to be an increase in health-related questions about the use of Wi-Fi in educational settings, especially with children and young people. A recent article in The Independent newspaper highlighted the range of concerns being expressed by some notable health watchdogs.

For many schools, the move away from hard-wired networks to WiFi has provided much greater flexibility for using computers for teaching and learning. The expansion and uptake has been quite extensive in UK schools. Wi-Fi has been promoted by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) - though they emphasise that it is for schools to make making decisions on Wi-Fi procurement and installation.

The debate about use of mobile phones and the siting of mobile transmission masts near school premises has been widely reported. What seems to have been overlooked in the Wi-Fi arena is that the technology uses the same processes as mobile phone receivers and transmitters, emitting radiation - albeit on a much reduced scale. Nevertheless, health concerns about the potential effects of radiation on growing children and young people remain. There is now an increasing number cases where Wi-Fi has either been banned or its use restricted in schools.

The next big question is whether a similar approach is likely to be taken in the home where Wi-Fi is fast becoming the network of choice for sharing internet, audio and video streams.