Around the world, Wi-Fi is being used by millions of people; but did you ever wonder how many of those people are becoming sick because of it?  Recently there has been a lawsuit between a boarding school in Massachusetts  and a young boy who allegedly got sick because of the Wi-Fi.  The school is being sued for putting in new routers that operate at a 5GHz which supposedly are causing the child to become sick.  Honestly I think this is one of the craziest things I have ever heard, but there is reasoning behind this idea.  The child was diagnosed with EHS (Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity) which involves symptoms that occur from an exposure to electromagnetic fields.  Some of the symptoms that this child experienced were nausea, rashes, nose bleeds, headaches, and chest pain.

Over the years, there has been an increase in electromagnetic field sources (EMF).  These sources come from video display units such as our phones and computers. A concern has grown over these sources because of reports of individuals experiencing health problems.  But the thing is, not even 1% of our population is dangerously affected by EHS.  Since the 1970s, cases of EHS have been studied but it is still not a well known subject to society.  Not many people have ever heard of the effects others are experiencing, such as burning sensations, tingling, dizziness, nausea, aches, pains and even cardiac palpitations.  Some doctors have no evidence to connect the symptoms to the WIFI and then there are other doctors, like the one who diagnosed the child in Massachusetts, that say there is no other explanation so that’s the only diagnosis they can make.

Since this is the first time I have ever heard of this, I have a hard time believing you can actually get sick over the Wi-Fi.  I do believe individuals are experiencing these symptoms, but studies have shown that they are not directly reacting to the electromagnetic field presence.  As we learned in class correlation does not equal causation.  We can not actually say that the Wi-Fi is directly causing people to become sick.  As I sit here in my room surrounded by Wi-Fi, looking at my computer screen, and scrolling though my phone, I find it hard to picture my life without these things.  We’re surrounded by these items everyday of our lives and for people to start blaming these symptoms because of them has me questioning if we should become more aware of the effects there might be.  Is this something we need to be worried about in the future?