Austria: Carinthia plans to ban cell phones in public schools - critics warn against radiation risks

Why is there only talk about cell phone use in class, but not about potential health risks caused by radiation?

Austria: Carinthia plans to ban cell phones in public schools - critics warn against radiation risks

kurier.at, January 2025 - autotranslation

In Kärnten, in the future, a mobile phone ban will apply at public schools to promote children's ability to concentrate. Regulated use for 10 to 14 year olds is also discussed. Education correspondent Daniel Fellner (SPÖ) is also seeking a uniform regulation nationwide.

While some federal states are skeptical and prefer to leave individual solutions to schools, critics are demanding a more fundamental debate: Why is there only talk about cell phone use in class, but not about potential health risks caused by radiation? Studies on the effect of high-frequency electromagnetic fields on children exist, but many scientists warn that long-term consequences are still unclear.

Radiation critics are therefore demanding not only a ban on the use, but also stricter rules for Wi-Fi and mobile radio radiation in schools. Instead of just regulating children's behavior, it should also be examined what health risks arise from the increasing digitization in educational institutions.
Source: Kurier
"Österreich: Kärnten plant Handyverbot an Volksschulen – Kritiker warnen vor Strahlungsrisiken"

Smartphone Overuse and Visual Impairment in Children and Young Adults: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Smartphone Overuse and Visual Impairment in Children and Young Adults: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
by Jian Wang1, MSc,  Mei Li2, MD, PhD, Daqiao Zhu1, PhD, Yang Cao3, PhD

Published on 08.12.20 in Vol 22, No 12 (2020): December
J Med Internet Res 2020;22(12):e21923

Conclusions: Longer smartphone use may increase the likelihood of ocular symptoms, including myopia, asthenopia, and ocular surface disease, especially in children. Thus, regulating use time and restricting the prolonged use of smartphones may prevent ocular and visual symptoms. Further research on the patterns of use, with longer follow up on the longitudinal associations, will help to inform detailed guidelines and recommendations for smartphone use in children and young adults.

doi:10.2196/21923

https://www.jmir.org/2020/12/e21923/?fbclid=IwAR3Am7F2ZJ8Ljx7FU34dTTDyzohWLwiAw6K466i4r1bPux6zXaDrPTYqnf0

Switzerland: Deloitte Survey Reveals Excessive Mobile Phone Use

So bad is the epidemic

Every second Swiss is mobile phone sick
by Harry Büsser, blick.ch, 14 October 2018 - translation - extracts from article

Every second person finds himself on the phone too often. Excessive use of mobile phones in Switzerland is shown by exclusive data from the consulting firm Deloitte.

...

A recent survey from the consulting firm Deloitte, exclusively available in the SonntagsBlick. shows that 48 percent of Swiss cell phone owners find that they use their smartphones too often . In the 25 to 34 year-old age group, it is even two-thirds. Four percent of Swiss wake up at night to check their mobile phone - 8 per cent in the 25 to 34 year-old age group.

Generally, younger people are more likely to be on the phone. In addition, it can be deduced from the data of Deloitte: The larger the phone, the longer owners use it.

...

Scientists do not agree when  discussing cell phone addiction. U.S. studies define it as an addictive behavior when someone reaches for their cell phone more than 60 times a day.  The average American adult checks his phone more than 200 times a day.

Blue Light from Phone Screens Accelerates Blindness, Study Finds

Blue light from phone screens accelerates blindness, study finds

Press Association / The Guardian, 9 August 2018

Blue light affected retinal, the molecule that makes photo-
receptor cells in the eye sense light. 
Photo: tommaso79/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Light from digital devices triggers creation of toxic molecule in the retina that can cause macular degeneration

Scientists say they have found how blue light from smartphones, laptops and other digital devices damages vision and can speed up blindness.

Research by the University of Toledo in the US has revealed that prolonged exposure to blue light triggers poisonous molecules to be generated in the eye’s light-sensitive cells that can cause macular degeneration – an incurable condition that affects the middle part of vision.

Blue light, which has a shorter wavelength and more energy compared with other colours, can gradually cause damage to the eyes.

The 10 Detrimental Health Effects of Wireless Devices

RE-POSTED 3 August 2018
This is a guest article by Juhana Harju, a Finnish non-fiction author and nutrition expert. Besides nutrition, he is also interested in the salutary effects of nature and adverse effects of technology.

The 10 detrimental health effects of wireless devices
by Juhana Harju, sateileeko.wordpress.com, posted 13 July 2017

Children spend too much time fiddling and game-playing with smart-
phones, taking them away from physical activity and being outdoors.

Almost everyone nowadays has a smartphone. We use them so much every day that it is a good idea to consider their possible detrimental effects on health. The observed detrimental effects and risks of smartphone use will henceforth be discussed.

1. The use of smartphones and tablets weakens eyesight

The use of smartphones and tablets has significantly increased myopia or short-sightedness. According to ophthalmologists this is caused by two factors. Too much time is spent viewing at close distance and not enough time is spent outdoors during daylight hours.

Screen Time at Close Range Could Lead to 'Tsunami of Myopia' and Eyesight Issues

Screen time at close range could lead to 'tsunami of myopia' and eyesight issues
by Jesse Thompson, ABC Radio Darwin, 12 March 2018

Watching something on your phone?  Why not hold the
screen out at elbow's length.  ABC Radio Darwin:
Jesse Thompson

Many people will remember being told not to sit too close to the television in the lounge rooms of their childhoods.

But today's parents would do well to warn their children not to position themselves too close to small screens, according to optometrist Helen Summers.

She warned that the use of the screens at close range for long periods of time could be leading to a generation of eyesight problems.

"We're actually facing a tsunami of myopia — short-sightedness," she told ABC Radio Darwin's Joel Spry.

"We have 4 million short-sighted people in Australia at the moment, but by the year 2050 we're looking at 22 million."

Switzerland: Note Issued by the Child and Youth Health Service of Geneva on the Health Risks of Use of Digital Technology

Note (28 March 2024): We have searched for this article and found that the site "Child and Youth Service" of the Department of Public Instruction, Geneva canton, is closed.

In July 2017, the Child and Youth Service of the Department of Public Instruction, Geneva canton, issued a note on the risks of digital technology to health which must be transmitted to all teachers at the start of the school year. The Service reminds us that screens also affect sleep and eyesight, and favor the development of diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. The note briefly mentions electromagnetic radiation (in the context of cancer risk and the precautionary recommendations by the Federal Office for Public Health regarding use of Wi-Fi- WLAN). It is our hope that this note will also be sent to all physicians, especially pediatricians.

Republic and Canton of Geneva
Department of Public Instruction, Culture and Sport
Office for Children and Youth
Child and Youth Health Service

Uses of Digital Technology: Health Risks
July 2017 - Translation by the Editor of "Towards Better Health"

Introduction

In the course of the last two decades, the use of MITIC (media, images and information and communication technologies) has grown tremendously and children’s access to screens, limited up until now to television, has considerably developed. Today, young children are already exposed to these technological devices. The concerns of the medical and educational world about the possible effects on the health and development of children are the subject of more and more studies and publications.

The use of digital technology for educational purposes and in teaching is gaining momentum. It is important to know the health effects of MITIC and to take into account that the use of these devices for entertainment purposes is also increasing. Most of the problems described below are all the more important as the use of screens comes early and is prolonged. The introduction of digital technology in school is also an opportunity to communicate preventive messages to children and young people for an optimal use of these devices.

'Transient Smartphone Blindness' Misdiagnosed as Multiple Sclerosis?

'Transient Smartphone Blindness' Misdiagnosed as Multiple Sclerosis?
by Deborah Brauser, medscape.com, 2 February 2017

Transient smartphone blindness (TSB) is a real phenomenon and may contribute to a neurologic misdiagnosis in clinical practice, a new case report suggests.

Published online January 18 in Neurology, the "Clinical/Scientific Notes" discuss a middle-aged woman who reported temporary, painless monocular visual loss after using a smartphone while lying on her side in bed.

This follows two cases reported in 2016 by UK researchers in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) of women, aged 22 and 40 years, who also had recurrent monocular vision impairment immediately after in-bed smartphone use.

The current investigators point out that their patient initially received a false diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) and was advised to start a disease-modifying treatment.

'Global Epidemic of Blindness' on the Horizon, Experts Warn

Staring at digital screens for several hours can cause
irreversible damage to the retinas, potentially leading to
central blindness, a new study claims.

'Global epidemic of blindness' on the horizon, experts warn: Hours spent staring at screens 'will rob millions of their sight decades early'

by Mary Kekatos for Dailymail.com, 

24 January 2017

• High energy light from digital screens is damaging our retinas, a new study says
• Damage to the retinas - the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye - is the biggest cause of central blindness
• Experts say it is now 'clearer than ever' that we are facing a new global epidemic
• But using a filter over screens can prevent further damage, researchers claim

Experts warn we face a global epidemic of blindness if we continue to spend hours you spend staring at a screen.