Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Wireless Networking Education The Courts

Massachusetts Boarding School Sued Over Wi-Fi Sickness 588

alphadogg writes: The parents of an anonymous student at the Fay School in Southborough, Mass., allege that the Wi-Fi at the institution is making their child sick, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court earlier this month (PDF). The child, identified only as "G" in court documents, is said to suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity syndrome. The radio waves emitted by the school's Wi-Fi routers cause G serious discomfort and physical harm, according to the suit. "After being continually denied access to the school in order to test their student's classroom, and having their request that all classrooms in which their child is present have the WiFi network replaced with a hard-wired Ethernet denied, the parents sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Massachusetts Boarding School Sued Over Wi-Fi Sickness

Comments Filter:
  • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:18PM (#50391193)
    I mean, they should have some kind of proof that the Wi-Fi is the reason, right?
    • by fredgiblet ( 1063752 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:27PM (#50391265)
      As far as I've heard so far there's been no proof to back it up.
      • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:44PM (#50391407)

        Easy way to win the Amazing Randi's million dollar challenge for supernatural powers. If you get sick when they turn the wi-fi on and feel better when they turn it off, you have the ability to detect 2.4GHz radiation with your body.

      • by Firethorn ( 177587 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:51PM (#50391453) Homepage Journal

        There have been double-blind tests performed, but the subjects were quite upset when they learned that apparently it wasn't the wifi signals making them sick, but the blinking lights on the wireless devices.

        IE lights disabled, radios fully enabled, on highest power, transmitting data: No symptoms.
        Simulated status light activity, radios completely disabled and unpowered: symptoms.
        Lights & radio on : symptoms
        Lights & radio disabled: no symptoms.

        Conclusion: Clearly we need to investigate the status lights. ;)

        • by makapuf ( 412290 )

          Interesting, do you have a source ? (Aka citation needed).
          I'm genuinely interested in getting such kind of study result. Of course the real subject is long term exposure effects of radio microwaves. For which I'm not sure many results (scientific ones) exist. And incidentally I'm going to install Ethernet plugs in our sons school next week to avoid this - not for me but by other parents demand (which I think will bring more reliable connectivity - win win )

        • by kheldan ( 1460303 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @07:52PM (#50392227) Journal
          It seems to me that more and more people are exhibiting symptoms of being allergic to modern life and all its complexities, technology very much included. But in this case I'm thinking more and more that it's just the kid not wanting to go to school, so he latched on to this mysterious ailment (that he probably read about on the internet) and is playing it for all it's worth. His parents, being totally incapable of conceiving on their precious little snowflake actually faking anything like this, is going Great Guns over it. Or, perhaps, they're scumbags and are trying to cash in through litigation on something they sold their kid on. Either way: Occams' Razor.
          • More likely the kid got legitimately sick at some point, the parents latched onto something they heard about on Facebook and things snowballed from there.
            • by Aighearach ( 97333 ) on Wednesday August 26, 2015 @09:39AM (#50395249)

              When I was in preschool, I got a "cold" and had to stay home so I didn't make the other kids sick. That part was explained to me at the time. But they didn't also explain that my runny nose and sore throat were themselves the "cold." So those symptoms went away, and I had no idea that I no longer had a "cold." They asked if I wanted to go back to preschool, I said "no." I mean, I didn't like it for other reasons and back then in the stone age "preschool" was daycare with no education at all, and no concept of appropriate supervision either. So it was no loss. But they just respected my wishes, and it was many years later when they found out the reason I said "no" was that I didn't want to make the other kids get a "cold," whatever that was. It sure sounded bad by the tone of voice adults used when they said I had it.

              It is the natural trajectory for making decisions from ignorance.

        • by msobkow ( 48369 )

          That could also be explained by the simple fact that their "symptoms" are all in their heads.

        • by Himmy32 ( 650060 ) on Wednesday August 26, 2015 @07:33AM (#50394247)
          Maybe they it they are just sensitive to radiation in the visible spectrum. The obvious answer is to stick them in pitch dark rooms to help them learn.
      • by Dunbal ( 464142 ) * on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @06:52PM (#50391849)
        There is proof however that people who claim to have "electromagnetic hypersensitivity" mysteriously cannot explain why they can get "sick" even when the source of electromagnetic radiation is turned off. Apparently the mere sight of a router/electrical transformer/pylon is enough to make them "sick".
    • by Austerity Empowers ( 669817 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:29PM (#50391285)

      Well, if I stand outside in the hot texas sun for over half an hour, I do develop a bad skin rash that burns, itches and stings for a day or so. Sometimes it's also accompanied by nausea and lethargy. I suppose I have EHS!

      Of course doctors don't diagnose me properly, instead they ask me to apply this skin lotion before hand, and warn me if I keep going out without it I may get cancer. I have tried to sue the sun, and have asked it to turn itself down, but it never complies for more than 12 hours a time, frequently less.

    • by kheldan ( 1460303 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:41PM (#50391379) Journal
      Bring in a portable faraday cage and have him sit in it. If he still develops symptoms then it's something else. I'll bet it's something environmental, like what they use to clean with, or something in the ventilation system. Or maybe the kid just doesn't want to go to school and has his parents totally foxed. Wouldn't be the first or last time that happened.
      • by macraig ( 621737 ) <[moc.liamg] [ta] [giarc.a.kram]> on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:57PM (#50391505)

        That only works if he doesn't know that he's sitting in a Faraday cage. Otherwise the kid would simply subconsciously - or consciously - fake symptoms just to fulfill the prophesy declared by his parents. He can't know the Faraday cage is there, else you'd never be able to rule out WiFi RF and narrow it to "something [else] environmental".

        So... give him an astronaut suit to wear for a day and tell him it's a reward for good grades or something.

        • OK, true enough. So we provide him with a fake Faraday cage, that doesn't keep anything out. If he magically gets better then you reveal it's a fake and that he's suffering from imaginary symptoms. Or that he's just trying to get out of going to school.
      • " If he still develops symptoms then it's something else."

        Yea, the student is full of shit and trying to get out of school.

    • by Greyfox ( 87712 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:49PM (#50391435) Homepage Journal
      It's probably just asbestos.
    • by Zalbik ( 308903 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:50PM (#50391439)

      Unfortunately, they have the backing of this guy [columbia.edu] who is on some sort of crusade to protect humans and wildlife [businesswire.com] from those oh so dangerous invisible EMF rays.

      Even more unfortunately, he appears to be a bright guy with fairly well established credentials.

      The problem is (and this is sometimes overlooked by judges) smart people can be:
      a) wrong
      b) crazy
      c) lying

      In this case I think it's (a) with a healthy dose of (b) mixed in.

      Hopefully the judge takes stock of the numerous double blind studies [wikipedia.org] where it has been shown that EMF "sufferers" symptoms disappeared when they were unaware of the presence of EMF radiation

      • by mark-t ( 151149 )
        Everything about the studies that have been done points to the condition being psychosomatic. While psychosomatic symptoms can still be extremely debilitating for the sufferer, even going so far as to produce objectively measurable effects on the person's body and metabolism, should psychosomatic conditions be the school board's problem?
        • by fuzzyfuzzyfungus ( 1223518 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @07:00PM (#50391889) Journal
          In this case, it isn't even a school board, it's a private school's admin, so it is likely to be even less their problem. A public school district is legally obligated to deal with basically whatever the residents of the area spawn; either in-house or by paying for an appropriate specialist placement(I think that kiddo going to jail makes him not their problem anymore; but if so that's about it).

          A private school has no particular obligation to deal with anyone in particular; so long as they don't explicitly step on some protected class or (as is being argued in this case) fail to make reasonable accommodation per the ADA.

          If it were a public school, it would be the school's problem, just as they have to make provision for the education of any other sickie(mental or physical); but for the private school to be obligated; it has to be demonstrated that kiddo has a 'disability' for ADA purposes, that they are capable of performing if provided with 'reasonable accommodation', and that the 'reasonable accommodation' would not cause 'undue hardship' for the entity being asked to provide it.

          I'd be interested to know how the meaning of those terms would be decided in this case. Fay is a pretty fancy school, east coast private boarding school with history dating back before 1900 and its own endowment and all; but even if that mitigates any argument about the financial impact of having to hardwire everything, it might well be argued that, say, making it impossible for anyone in this kid's class to do an ipad-related curriculum activity would impose excessive limitations on their ability to learn, and the school to teach, as it usually does. If the school were purely doing wireless because it was cheaper, they might have issues; but today wireless devices are used routinely in situations where hardwired stuff would never have been considered practical; plus(unlike an accommodation that requires adding something, like a braille copy of the textbook or the like, the accomodation here demanded requires depriving everyone in the student's proximity of any use of wifi devices, or segregating the student, neither of which are likely to go over all that well.)
          • As someone who has fought with the public school system to get accommodations for my son (who has an actual medical diagnosis for a real condition), it takes more than the parents saying "Johnny gets sick around WiFi" before the school would be forced to turn off all WiFi. So even if this were a public school, they would have an uphill battle and would need to 1) demonstrate that their child really does react badly to WiFi signals and 2) show that there is a solution that can be reached which wouldn't over

    • by AK Marc ( 707885 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:50PM (#50391443)
      A mental illness is still an illness. So the ADA would still apply.
      • by alannon ( 54117 )

        Sure, but imagine a kid as agoraphobia and can't stand being in the open air. Is it reasonable for the parents to expect the school to put the football field inside of a building so the kid can be on the team? Also there is absolutely no evidence that EHS itself exists, which is what the parents claim. The child would be better off if the parents admitted that it was a psychiatric disorder and started getting the kid treatment for it. The ADA has limits on what accommodations an employer, or school has

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by tsnow ( 3732101 )
      In America, all you need is a gut feeling and a lawyer, and you can litigate anything!
    • I had to deal with an issue relating to a number of members of the public claiming to be affected by this a couple of years ago. Bluntly, most of the people involved had clear mental health or personality issues and were projecting their general dislike of modern life and technology onto this supposed bogeyman.

      A couple turned out to be more interesting; they'd started feeling unwell since having wireless routers installed in their homes. Turned out that a faulty batch of router power supplies was emittin
  • Really!? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by DaMattster ( 977781 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:20PM (#50391213)
    I'm guessing a whole new low has been reached here. Shaking my head ....
    • I'm guessing a whole new low has been reached here. Shaking my head ....

      Just wait till we move the goal posts again by finding the school is actually liable.

  • by barc0001 ( 173002 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:21PM (#50391223)

    Chronic stupidity? Overactive placebo gland?

  • Show me where a licensed professional made a "EMHS syndrome" diagnosis.
  • There is no scientific medical evidence that such a condition exists and their claims should be tossed until such a time that such a sensativity can be proven to exist. They should be encouraged to move to Alaska and homestead like all the other idiots that think they have this "disease".

    • by Darinbob ( 1142669 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @06:22PM (#50391667)

      I work in a building full of equipment broadcasting on several different bands all day long, not just the few piddly wi-fi routers. It seems that every day I come to work I spend the day completely depressed, but I cheer up again when I go home at night. My only conclusion is that RF causes depression.

  • Oh dear (Score:5, Insightful)

    by viperidaenz ( 2515578 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:25PM (#50391255)

    I hope they don't have any cell phones in their house.
    I hope they don't use a microwave.
    I hope they don't live near any cell towers.
    I hope they don't live near any TV or radio transmitters

    What would be funny is if they had turned off WiFi in his classes and not told them, and they continued to complain.

  • Better (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Call Saul

  • by xeno ( 2667 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:28PM (#50391277)

    My condition causes me significant discomfort around people who say aggressively stupid things, internalize and repeat strange diagnoses they read on the internet, and causes me to have thoughts of self-harm when listening to security software vendor presentations. I have repeatedly asked my employer to accommodate my needs stemming from Bullshit-intolerance Syndrome (BS), but they all just say, "that's bullshit, we won't tolerate that" to which I say "yes, that's my problem too." Perhaps I also suffer from Jackass Impulsive Recursive Comment (JIRC) disorder, but they don't want to hear about that either. I'm gonna sue.

  • by DaMattster ( 977781 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:28PM (#50391281)
    Last time I checked, the earth has a certain amount of naturally occurring electromagnetic fields. In of itself, that would nullify any EHS argument.
  • ...since the courthouse will be filled with not just wifi, but other radio waves too. *smh

  • Too be fair (Score:5, Insightful)

    by nedlohs ( 1335013 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:31PM (#50391305)

    The parents are apparently mentally disabled.

  • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:31PM (#50391311)

    ... is 802.11 G

    • ... is 802.11 G

      It's quite natural for him to be extremely impressed. In every test at the school the other kid 802.11 N was shown to be faster, better and able to go further. 802.11 G will always be in second place and that takes its mental toll.

  • by hawguy ( 1600213 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:34PM (#50391331)

    How can he be sensitive to Wifi, but not to the rest of the ubiquitous RF emissions that surround us all? Cellular signals, commercial radio+TV, microwave ovens, radar, etc.

    Sounds like he needs to move to The Town Without Wifi [washingtonian.com]

  • Blind studies fail (Score:5, Interesting)

    by silas_moeckel ( 234313 ) <silas@ds[ ]c-corp.com ['min' in gap]> on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:37PM (#50391351) Homepage

    Blind studies with control groups fail. It's not a fscking anything it's a flavor of hypochondriac, he needs counseling and possibly some psych meds.

  • by Nkwe ( 604125 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:38PM (#50391355)

    The child, identified only as "G" in court documents

    Well there is the problem. If the child identified himself as "N", there wouldn't be a conflict and the kid would learn faster.

  • by mveloso ( 325617 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:38PM (#50391359)

    This is why you make a tinfoil hat: to keep the radio waves out of your head. It's simple to do, and as a bonus the voices stop.

    • That's a great idea, but you have to make sure that it's shiny-side out. You only make it shiny-side in if you're trying to keep your thoughts from leaking out where other people can read them.
  • by Anubis IV ( 1279820 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:40PM (#50391369)

    First off, it's a boarding school, which means that you are choosing to send your child there. Don't like the service they offer? Pull them out and send them to another one, or take advantage of the free, public education provided the state of Massachusetts.

    Second, what disability? Every study done has either come back inconclusive or contrary to the notion that this disease exists. Every anecdote I've personally heard has indicated that these people have an accuracy not statistically significantly different from a coin flip when it comes to accurately identifying when WiFi is around in blind tests.

    Third, is it really only an issue at school? Every Starbucks and McDonald's has free WiFi at this point, and they're on practically every street corner in America at this point. If your issue is with WiFi, you have bigger problems.

    Fourth, 2.4 or 5GHz? Because they're just radio waves, so it kinda makes a difference...or is it just any WiFi at all? Would you still have this disability if we switched WiFi to use the same frequencies as TV or CB radio? Because WiFi?

    Ugh, these people.

  • The real reason (Score:4, Insightful)

    by rossz ( 67331 ) <ogre&geekbiker,net> on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:59PM (#50391525) Journal

    You precious snowflake is sick because you put him on a strick vegan diet.

  • by redshirt ( 95023 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @06:06PM (#50391577)
    I occasionally read about parents in affluent Marin, CA whining about this. In fact, there was a movement to prevent PG&E (the local power company) from installing real-time meters that transmit usage over radio because they were afraid it could hurt them. I remember seeing a parent interviewed on the evening news, with her kid in the background playing on an iPad. Did I mention that Marin also has one of the lowest child immunization rates in the country? Yeah. These are people that get all their "facts" from Pintrest and Jenny McCarthy.
  • by PPH ( 736903 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @06:28PM (#50391709)

    ... to a boarding school in the NRQZ [wikipedia.org] in West Virginia. Where the curriculum includes moonshine, banjo, musket marksmanship and making sissy outsiders squeal like a pig.

  • MIT WIFI Study (Score:4, Informative)

    by arthurpaliden ( 939626 ) on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @08:12PM (#50392333)

    There was an MIT under grad psychology study done a few years ago on the Effects of WiFi on people with WiFi sensitivity. They had a WiFi generator that had antennas, dials and blinking lights. The generator was always positioned behind the test subjects so they could not directly see if it was on or off. However, there were enough reflective surfaces on the opposing wall so the the subject could tell when it was on or off. When the generator was brought in the room and and turned on the subjects felt the effects. When it was turned off and or removed from the room the subjects felt much better.

    The machine did nothing.

    The ceiling of the room was loaded with active WiFi base stations that were on all the time during the tests yet the subjects only reacted when the fake WiFi generator was turned on and in the room.

"The pathology is to want control, not that you ever get it, because of course you never do." -- Gregory Bateson

Working...