FOOD FOR THOUGHT

CELL PHONES – PROTECT OUR CHILDREN

The digital age has created an epidemic of behavioral addictions in people of all age groups with the long term effects not yet fully understood.
To me the dependency on cell phones alone raises a lot of warning flags but specifically: the impact on a person’s physical health and the consequences of behavioral addictions. I am very concerned watching how the seeds for this type of addiction are planted as early as infancy while at the same time disregarding all the evidence of the detrimental health effects on the developing child.

France is taking a leading role in protecting the well-being of young children but way more needs to be done. 

In 2015 France passed the following law:

• WiFi is banned outright for preschoolers. 
• Wireless internet is prohibited in places dedicated to the welcome, rest, and activities of children under the age of 3 years old. 
• At primary school level WiFi must be disabled when not in use for teaching and any establishment offering public access to WiFi must put a sign up at the entrance indicating the presence of WiFi.

With these restrictions, one can only wonder what they really know about the dangers of wireless technology!

France, September 2017

• French Education Minister has touched off a public debate about banning phones in schools.
• Using mobile phones in class is already outlawed in France.

First the French ban TV for children under three-years-old, now the French government is concerned about the negative health effects of mobile devices on children. From cancer to other diseases, cell phone use is especially dangerous to children.

“SWEDISH RESEARCHERS HAVE FOUND THAT CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS ARE FIVE TIMES MORE LIKELY TO GET BRAIN CANCER FROM MOBILE PHONES, CAUSING CONCERN THERE MAY BE AN EPIDEMIC OF THE DISEASE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE LATER IN LIFE.

The French response to this growing concern of the safety of cell phones for children is threefold:

• NO advertising of mobile phones directed at children under 12.
• BANS the sale of cell phones designed for children under 6-years-old.
• Introduce new limits for radiation from the phones and require mobile phones to be sold with earphones.

The clampdown represents the most comprehensive action yet taken by any government worldwide. It contrasts sharply with the stance of British ministers, who have largely ignored the recommendations of an official report nine years ago that people aged under 16 should be discouraged from using mobiles, and that the industry should be stopped from promoting them to children. Since then their use by the young has almost doubled, so that nine out of 10 of the country’s 16-year-olds own a handset.

THE FRENCH MINISTRY HAS WARNED, “MOBILE PHONE USE IS INCREASING AT A RAPID PACE AMONG YOUTHS”, AND THAT YOUNG CHILDREN MAY BE “MORE SENSITIVE BECAUSE THEIR BODIES ARE STILL DEVELOPING.”

Other countries have also issued warning statements about the use of cell phones by children:

• Toronto’s Department of Public Health: Children under eight should only use mobiles in emergencies; teenagers should limit calls to 10 minutes or less.
• Russian Ministry of Health: Young people under 18 should not use cell phones.”