School Wi-Fi plan alarms Edmonton parents

A group of parents will try to persuade Edmonton public school trustees to hold off on installing Wi-Fi in schools until the effects of the wireless technology are fully known.

"Wi-Fi in schools can be 20 to 30 times the strength of Wi-Fi in your house, so the children are exposed to that radiation coming from the Wi-Fi for the entire duration of the day," said parent Gina Shimoda.

A staff report that will be presented to school trustees Tuesday night states that the radio-frequency electromagnetic energy emitted in Wi-Fi transmissions has "no real or demonstrated non-thermal radiation effects."

"We believe Wi-Fi is an important part of the infrastructure to enable the use of 21st-century technologies in education," the report states, adding that the cost of running cabled internet in every school could run at least $30,000 per classroom and would limit access in hallways, cafeterias and other open areas.

Health Canada and the World Health Organization have said Wi-Fi is not dangerous.

But Shimoda argues there hasn't been enough research done on long-term impact of the technology on children.