"They can use cell phones, but they can't eat with cutlery": Excessive media consumption by toddlers

"They can use cell phones, but they can't eat with cutlery"

Pediatrician Arnika Thiede at the Brothers of Mercy in Linz deals with behaviorally disturbed toddlers almost daily. The reason: excessive media consumption

https://www.diagnose-funk.org/

"They can use cell phones, but they can't eat with cutlery"
Image: colorbox, Barmherzige Brüder Linz,
Öberösterreichische Nachricht

LINZ, January 11, 2025. Sleep disorders, obesity, behavioral disorders, and language deficits: Too much media time has serious consequences, even for young children. Pediatrician Arnika Thiede* speaks in an OÖN interview with editor Daniel Gruber about this dramatic development and attempts to counteract it.

Many one to two-year-olds already spend up to two hours a day in front of their cell phone, tablet or TV

OÖNachrichten: Experts warn of the consequences of excessive media use among children. School social worker Christian Hofer recently said in an OÖN interview that cases of media addiction are going through the roof. Do you share this view?

United States: Petition to the FDA to protect children from wireless radiation in schools

Would you like to do something about wireless radiation in schools?
Posted on March 19, 2025 by LVsA

If you’re a parent or grandparent, teacher or administrator, or belong to an organization concerned with the welfare of children, you can sign on as a petitioner! Just visit the ART website and add your name before midnight on Tuesday, March 25th.

And thank you!

Read and Join the Petition to the FDA

Americans for Responsible Technology – 19mar2025.

The negative effects of high-frequency EMF on the brain development of children and adolescents

The negative effects of high-frequency EMF on the brain development of children and adolescents

Posted on March 7, 2025 by Multerland

“It is high time that the negative effects of high-frequency EMF on the brain development of children and adolescents are taken seriously!” Interview with neurobiologist Dr. Keren Grafen

Original article: „Es ist höchste Zeit, dass die negativen Auswirkungen von Hochfrequenz-EMF auf die Gehirnentwicklung von Kindern und Jugendlichen ernst genommen werden!“
Interview mit der Neurobiologin Dr. Keren Grafen
Published: March 2, 2025 By: Diagnose:Funk

In her lecture in Neckartenzlingen, neurobiologist Prof. G. Teuchert-Noodt explained that brain metabolism is largely controlled by electromagnetic frequencies between 4 Hz and 30 Hz and that homeostasis in the brain is based on a sensitive interaction of these frequencies. Her institute has research results on this. It is therefore logical that external radiation, such as that generated by mobile phone radiation, has an effect on it. Dr. Keren Grafen worked at Prof. G. Teuchert-Noodt’s institute and is very familiar with the neurobiological research carried out there. Peter Hensinger interviewed her about the current state of research into the effects of mobile phone radiation (EMF) on brain metabolism.

Continue reading:

https://multerland.blog/2025/03/07/the-negative-effects-of-high-frequency-emf-on-the-brain-development-of-children-and-adolescents/

WHO’s review on cell phone radiation and cancer cannot assure safety, renowned experts say

WHO’s review on cell phone radiation and cancer cannot assure safety, renowned experts say

Theodora Scarato, ehn.org, March 14, 2025

Photo by vadymvdrobot on Envato

Four critiques published by distinguished U.S. and international experts have documented the science showing that a World Health Organization (WHO) funded review on cell phone radiation cannot conclude cell phones are safe due to several critical errors, omissions, and conflicts of interests.

In short:

• Experts state that the WHO review failed to follow best practices for statistical analyses, and relied heavily on lower quality and less precise, industry-tied studies.
• The WHO review’s conclusion omitted findings of large scale animal experiments, which have demonstrated “clear evidence” of an association with cancer.
• The WHO’s conclusions are not in alignment with seven meta-analyses that have found significant evidence of an association between heavy, long-term cellphone use (greater than ten years) and tumor risk.
• Several authors of the WHO review have conflicts of interest, including a history of receiving industry funding for their research. .
• All four critiques emphasize the need for a public health approach that minimizes exposure to cell phone radiation, especially for children.

Criticism of radiation and digital manipulation: How tech giants threaten childhood and society

Read what Jonathan Haidt had to say at the World Economic Forum (WEF), Davos, January 2025: "How to make the 'anxious generation' happy again"

Criticism of radiation and digital manipulation: How tech giants threaten childhood and society
Tagesanzeiger.ch, February 2025 - auto-translation

The talk by US psychologist Jonathan Haidt at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos has sparked an intense discussion about the effects of smartphones and social media on children and young people. His core message: Smartphones and platforms like TikTok or Instagram permanently damage the mental and physical health of children. It is worth a critical look not only at the social and psychological consequences, but also at the potential health risks caused by electromagnetic radiation.

Radiation exposure in children's daily life

The increasing smartphone use by children and adolescents poses not only social and psychological, but also physical risks. Studies have already pointed out the potentially harmful effects of mobile radio radiation several times, especially in prolonged and repeated use. Due to thinner skull bones and a still developing brain, children's heads absorb even more radiation than adults. Although the long-term consequences remain controversial, the scientific debate shows a caution towards chronic radiation exposure.

Social media as a "poison for the brain"

Digital devices in primary school: educational tools or radiation source?

 

Article from Germany about the use of digital devices in schools. It makes the excellent point that health aspects of exposure to radiation from these devices and Wi-Fi are seldom discussed.

Digital devices in primary school: educational tools or radiation source?

Frankenpost, 19 January 2025 - translation

The increasing use of smartphones and tablets in elementary school not only raises questions about media literacy, but also about health safety. According to a Bitkom study, 17% of children of primary school age already have their own cell phone and 42% have a tablet.

This means that many children are exposed to electromagnetic radiation from mobile devices at an early age - an aspect that has unfortunately received little attention to date.

Early contact: what are the risks?

Wireless Radiation: the Elephant in the Classroom - November 9, 2024 - Forest Row, United Kingdom

Wireless Radiation: the Elephant in the Classroom - November 9, 2024 - Forest Row, United Kingdom

Evidence-based conference on biological impacts of wireless radiation on children, adults and wildlife, with expert advice on mitigation.

There will be two presentations from leading experts on biological impacts of wireless radiation, particularly on children, with a focus on mitigation strategies for schools. There will be a break for refreshments, a Question and Answer session, and a mitigation workshop from an engineering expert.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wireless-radiation-the-elephant-in-the-classroom-tickets-1014326486827

All proceeds from the event will be used to cover costs with any additional funds donated to the non-profit Environmental Health Trust.

Other Countries Are Taking the Health Risks of 5G and Wireless Radiation Seriously. Why Isn’t the U.K.?

Other Countries Are Taking the Health Risks of 5G and Wireless Radiation Seriously. Why Isn’t the U.K.?
by Gillian Jamieson, dailysceptic.org, 29 October 2024

Momentum is building in the campaign to try to protect children from harmful smartphone use. Earlier this year, Miriam Cates MP led a lively debate on this subject, while the Education Committee led an inquiry entitled, ‘Screen Time – Impacts on Education and Wellbeing’. The grassroots movement, including Smartphone Free Childhood, Safe Screens and others is gathering pace. The latter organisation is in fact actively supporting MP Josh MacAlister’s Safer Phones Bill launched earlier this month, which aims to “make smartphones less addictive for children and empower families and teachers to cut down on children’s daily smartphone screen time”.

The dangers of smartphone use are clearly serious and encompass addiction, harmful content, exposure to sexual abuse and bullying, disruption of learning, behavioural changes through the habits adopted and the loss of previously normal childhood activities and social interactions. The movement hails Jonathan Haidt as the “world’s leading voice” on the damage caused to children by a phone-based childhood. Haidt identifies the damage as an “adolescent mental health crisis”.

Switzerland: Top Swiss education official not a fan of phones in schools

Top Swiss education official not a fan of phones in schools
swissinfo.ch, 25 September 2024

The head of the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education, Silvia Steiner, said in an interview that smartphones have brought about a decline in interpersonal communication abilities.

(Photo): Are younger people unlearning the ability to talk to each other? Keystone-SDA

However, Steiner does not believe a general ban, to be imposed by politicians, is necessary, she told the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper on Wednesday.

Most schools already have clear regulations on the use of mobile phones and schools have to make their own decisions in this regard, she says. However, personally she doesn’t see the need for phones in class or the schoolyard.

Australia plans a minimum age limit for social media use

Australia plans a minimum age limit for social media use
By Reuters, CNN, 10 September 2024

Australia intends to set a minimum age limit for children to use social media, citing concerns about mental and physical health. The plan has sparked backlash from digital rights advocates who warn the measure could drive dangerous online activity underground.

(Photo):  The law would put Australia among the first countries in the world to impose an age restriction on social media. Keiko Iwabuchi/Moment RF/Getty Images

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his center-left government would run an age verification trial before introducing age minimum laws for social media this year.

Albanese didn’t specify an age but said it would likely be between 14 and 16.

Switzerland: Smartphones harm teenagers more than previously thought – schools impose cell phone bans

Smartphones harm teenagers more than previously thought – schools impose cell phone bans
Patrik Müller / ch media, watson.ch, 10 August 2024 - auto-translation

Goodbye to personal responsibility: A rethink is taking place at secondary schools in Switzerland. The fact that smartphone bans are gaining majority support is also due to a "bible" from America - and five specific dangers.

(Photo): The usual picture: Can it be changed with bans?symbolic image: Getty

The summer holidays are coming to an end, and on Monday classrooms in many cantons will be filled up again. Not everything is the same as before. Around 1,100 pupils at the Burghalde school in Baden AG are expecting a new rule. Smartphones are prohibited in the buildings. "The requirement that young people be able to regulate their mobile phone use independently was too high," the school administration explained the turnaround in a letter to parents.

United Kingdom: EE warns parents against giving children under 11 a smartphone

EE warns parents against giving children under 11 a smartphone
by Simon Goodley, theguardian.com, 25 August 2024

Primary school children should not be given smartphones by their parents, one of the UK’s largest mobile phone operators has warned.

(Photo): Concern has grown about the negative impact that excessive screen and smartphone use has on young people’s wellbeing. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

EE is advising parents that children under 11 should be given old-fashioned brick or “dumb” phones that only allow them to call or text instead.

“EE recommends that children under 11 should use non-smart devices with limited capabilities, such as feature phones, ensuring they can make texts and calls but restrict access to social media or inappropriate content,” the company said.

It is thought to be the the first time a UK mobile operator has offered such advice.

United States Senate Passes the Kids Online Safety Act

Senate passes the Kids Online Safety Act
The landmark piece of legislation heads to the House.

By Lauren Feiner, a senior policy reporter at The Verge, covering the intersection of Silicon Valley and Capitol Hill. She spent 5 years covering tech policy at CNBC, writing about antitrust, privacy, and content moderation reform. theverge.com, July 30, 2024

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images

The Senate passed the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (also known as COPPA 2.0), the first major internet bills meant to protect children to reach that milestone in two decades. A legislative vehicle that included both KOSA and COPPA 2.0 passed 91–3.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called it “a momentous day” in a speech ahead of the vote, saying that “the Senate keeps its promise to every parent who’s lost a child because of the risks of social media.” He called for the House to pass the bills “as soon as they can.”

KOSA is a landmark piece of legislation that a persistent group of parent advocates played a key role in pushing forward — meeting with lawmakers, showing up at hearings with tech CEOs, and bringing along photos of their children, who, in many cases, died by suicide after experiencing cyberbullying or other harms from social media. These parents say that a bill like KOSA could have saved their own children from suffering and hope it will do the same for other children.

Why There Should Be No More Discussion about “Appropriate” Screen Time for Infants, Toddlers, and Children

Why There Should Be No More Discussion about “Appropriate” Screen Time for Infants, Toddlers, and Children
By Patricia Burke of Safe Tech International Image courtesy Floris Freshman. Nov. 7, 2023

As a consumer culture, we do not debate the “appropriate level of exposure” for smoking, alcohol, gambling, pornography, guns, driving, or drug paraphernalia for infants, toddlers, and young children. A product or practice is either safe, or not safe, in childhood.

Previously, although often belatedly, society has met the responsibility to protect children from risks of harm, especially from addictive substances.

For example, the 2020 story of the five-year old from Utah who drove his family’s car onto the interstate was reported with a reminder to keep car keys away from children.

Now, perhaps nowhere in modern society is lack of discernment more damaging than in the blind acceptance of cell phones, tablets, screens, and wireless device use by children. We need to fix this, not only for children, but to reclaim reason in ourselves.

Doctors, Lawyers, and Scientists Join Together in International Children's Declaration for the Digital Age

Doctors, lawyers, and scientific researchers are invited to join as Signatories to the Declaration.
Educators, parents, and child advocates are encouraged to sign as supporters.

Link: International Declaration on the Human Rights of Children in the Digital Age

Doctors, Lawyers, and Scientists Join Together in International Children's Declaration for the Digital Age

NEWS PROVIDED BY Americans for Responsible Technology
01 Nov, 2023

Three Fundamental Rights of Children Are Affirmed Regarding Digital Technology

NEW YORK, Nov. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- An international group of leading lawyers, physicians, physicists, epidemiologists and other children's health experts have today announced their support for a new International Declaration intended to raise public awareness of three fundamental rights of children which are not adequately being protected: the right to be free from addictive platforms and apps; the right to be free from hazardous radiation from wireless devices; and the right to be free from commercial exploitation of private information.

Children have a fundamental human right to be free from addiction, exposure and exploitation in the digital world.Post this

Children around the world are suffering from digital addiction, radiation exposure and commercial exploitation.

Sweden: Education Minister Is Making Preschools Screen-Free Again

Good news from Sweden! The Education Minister, Lotta Edholm, is making preschools screen-free again. The Swedish government reversed its decision to make digital devices compulsory in preschools. The new position is essentially based on the statement by the Karolinska Institute.

Communication from Diagnosefunk (in German) containing link to statement by the Karolinska Institute: https://www.diagnose-funk.org/aktuelles/artikel-archiv/detail

Karolinska Institute (Sweden): Statement on the national digitization strategy in education - 
Swedish education minister listens to science. diagnose:funk translates the report

diagnose-funk.org, 8 July 2023 - auto-translation

Minister Lotta Edholm, Photo: Swedish Government 

Sweden, France, Finland and the Netherlands, countries that were at the forefront of digitizing education, are now pulling the ripcord. Governments are making pre-schools screen-free. In Sweden, a report by the Karolinska Institute (= university) was decisive. We document this development.

The Swedish government reversed its decision to make digital devices compulsory in preschools. The new position is essentially based on the statement by the Karolinska University, formulated by Lisa Thorell , Professor of Developmental Psychology; Torkel Klingberg , Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience; Agneta Herlitz , professor of psychology; Andreas Olsson , Professor of Psychology and Ulrika Ådén , Professor and Advisor for Neonatology. Education Minister Lotta Edholm justified the about-face:

Meta Lowers Minimum Age of Quest Headsets in Bid to Lure Children Into VR

Meta Lowers Minimum Age of Quest Headsets in Bid to Lure Children Into VR
By Lorenz Duchamps, NTD.com, 17 June 2023

Facebook parent company Meta announced plans to enable children as young as 10 years old to enter virtual reality through its Meta Quest headset later this year, despite a recent advisory warning social media can negatively impact the mental health and well-being of children.

(Photo): A Meta worker uses a Meta Quest VR headset at the Meta showroom in Brussels, Belgium, on Dec. 07, 2022. (Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images)

“Today we’re announcing changes to give families even more ways to use and enjoy Meta Quest. Starting later this year, parents will be able to set up parent-managed Meta accounts for Meta Quest 2 and 3 for their children ages 10—12,” the company stated in a blog post on Friday.

Apple’s Augmented Reality Headset ‘a Crime and a Tragedy’ for Kids, Critic Says

Apple’s Augmented Reality Headset ‘a Crime and a Tragedy’ for Kids, Critic Says
By Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D., childrenshealthdefense.org, 15 June 20213

Tech giant Apple is calling its “mixed reality” headset, scheduled to hit the market in early 2024, “the most advanced personal electronics device ever.” But critics warned the headset will pose multiple threats, physical and emotional, to children.

Tech giant Apple is calling its “mixed-reality” headset, scheduled to hit the market in early 2024, “the most advanced personal electronics device ever.”

But critics warned the headset will pose multiple threats, physical and emotional, to children.

The “Apple Vision Pro,” priced at $3,499, will allow the wearer to toggle between augmented reality (AR) — which projects digital imagery on the physical surroundings while allowing the user to see objects in the real world — and virtual reality (VR), which immerses the user in a virtual world and limits their vision of their physical surroundings.

There’s Another Pandemic Raging. It’s Targeting the Young and Online

There’s another pandemic raging. It’s targeting the young and online.
By Mitch Daniels, Opinion, Washington Post, 17 April 2023

Mitch Daniels is a senior adviser to the Liberty Fund, president emeritus of Purdue University and a former governor of Indiana.

(Stock)

A pandemic rages uncontrolled, a damaging and even deadly plague sweeping across a wide swath of society. The scientific evidence of its dangers is massive and irrefutable. Its worst harm is inflicted on the young, who are the most vulnerable to its contagion, and whose injuries may well prove irreversible with time.

The last time the nation faced such a threat, leaders panicked and overreacted, understandably at first.  But then they failed to course-correct even as the scientific data plainly guided them to do so. Consequently, enormous and tragic collateral damage occurred in the form of other health risks left untreated, more than a year of vital learning lost by schoolchildren, increases in mental illness, drug abuse and suicide, not to mention the destruction of countless businesses and economic livelihoods.

Wireless technologies, non-ionizing electromagnetic fields and children: Identifying and reducing health risks

Wireless technologies, non-ionizing electromagnetic fields and children: Identifying and reducing health risks

Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care
Volume 53, Issue 2, February 2023, 101374
by Devra Davis PhD, MPH, Linda Birnbaum PhD, Paul Ben-Ishai PhD, Hugh Taylor MD, Meg Sears PhD, Tom Butler PhD, MSc, Theodora Scarato MSW

Full text: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1538544223000238

Children today are conceived and live in a sea of wireless radiation that did not exist when their parents were born. The launch of the digital age continues to transform the capacity to respond to emergencies and extend global communications. At the same time that this increasingly ubiquitous technology continues to alter the nature of commerce, medicine, transport and modern life overall, its varied and changing forms have not been evaluated for their biological or environmental impacts. Standards for evaluating radiation from numerous wireless devices were first set in 1996 to avoid heating tissue and remain unchanged since then in the U.S. and many other nations. A wide range of evidence indicates that there are numerous non-thermal effects from wireless radiation on reproduction, development, and chronic illness. Many widely used devices such as phones and tablets function as two-way microwave radios, sending and receiving various frequencies of information-carrying microwave radiation on multiple simultaneously operating antennas. Expert groups advising governments on this matter do not agree on the best approaches to be taken. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends limited screen time for children under the age of two, but more than half of all toddlers regularly have contact with screens, often without parental engagement. Young children of parents who frequently use devices as a form of childcare can experience delays in speech acquisition and bonding, while older children report feelings of disappointment due to ‘technoference’—parental distraction due to technology. Children who begin using devices early in life can become socially, psychologically and physically addicted to the technology and experience withdrawal upon cessation. We review relevant experimental, epidemiological and clinical evidence on biological and other impacts of currently used wireless technology, including advice to include key questions at pediatric wellness checkups from infancy to young adulthood. We conclude that consistent with advice in pediatric radiology, an approach that recommends that microwave radiation exposures be As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) seems sensible and prudent, and that an independently-funded training, research and monitoring program should be carried out on the long term physical and psychological impacts of rapidly changing technological milieu, including ways to mitigate impacts through modifications in hardware and software. Current knowledge of electrohypersensitivity indicates the importance of reducing wireless exposures especially in schools and health care settings.

Continue reading:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1538544223000238