Westhampton Beach trustees last night ignored a two-page New York Post feature on the dangers of Wi-Fi and other radiation sources by Nicholas Kardaras, Ph.D.
This reporter held up the feature for Mayor Maria Moore and the trustees but could win no interest from them.
Kardaras, former clinical assistant professor at Stony Brook University’s Health Sciences Center and now director of The Dunes East Hampton rehab facility, has authored Glow Kids: How Screen Addiction is Hijacking Our Kids and How to Break the Trance.
The feature in the Aug. 25 Sunday NYP was headlined, “The Frightening Effects of Digital Heroin.”
iPads, smart phones and Xboxes are a form of “digital drug” that affects the brain’s frontal cortex, which controls executive functioning including impulse control,” says the article.
The excessive amount of time children spend on their screens is making them “wired, tired, aggressive and even psychotic—battling an addiction harder to kick than drugs,” he says.
Children on Screens 8-11 Hours a Day
He quotes the American Academy of Pediatrics as finding that 8-10 year-olds are spending eight hours a day with various digital media while teenagers spend 11 hours in front of screens. One in three children are using tablets and smartphones “before they can talk,” he says.
The handbook of Internet Addiction by Dr. Kimberly Young says 18% of college-age internet users in the U.S. suffer from “tech addiction.”
There is no mention in the Kardaras article about possible physical effects on the brain and body from the microwave radiation emitted by cellphones, computers, etc.
He urges parents to demand that schools not be allowed to give their children tablets or Chromebooks until they are at least ten years old. Others, he says, say 12 is a better age for use of such products.
“Give your children Lego instead of Minecraft, books instead of iPads, and nature and sports instead of TV, he advises.
Consumer Reports, Local Editor Ignored
Attempts were also made by this writer to have the trustees pay attention to Consumer Reports, which is urging cellphone users to keep them away from the body, don’t put them in pants or shirt pockets, and don’t sleep near one.
There are no such warnings in any WHB facilities such as the schools, library or village hall. Most at risk are students who are exposed to radiation from powerful Wi-Fi routers hroughout the school day. Similarly impacted are employees and teachers.
Also referenced by us was an editorial by Jerry Della Femina in The Independent newspaper of East Hampton titled, “A Generation of Idiots.” He says children are “under the spell” of the cellphone. He admits he is an addict himself, going to bed with a cellphone in his hand.” Radiation health advocates would tell him this is one of the worst things that can be done with a cellphone. “The cellphone is the new drug of choice,” wrote Della Femina.
O’Dwyer Shut Down after Five Minutes
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This writer took the mike at the close of the meeting, when residents are allowed to speak, and trustees immediately turned upside down an “hour glass” that uses sand to measure five minutes.
Trustees sat in silence while we made our talk, which was video-recorded and will be on the WHB website in about a week. It will also be on local Channel 22.
They started interrupting us after five minutes and we were unable to complete what we had to say. There is no written “five-minute” rule in any of the board’s bylaws.
Trustees can be seen shouting this writer down at the Aug. 4 meeting after we talked from 9:12 minutes to 14:12 minutes.
Library President Tom Moore, who was at the Sept. 1 meeting, challenged a statement in a letter we sent to the 1,400 registered voters of WHB that said $2 million would be spent on construction projects in the six-year-old building.
He said that was “inaccurate.” Public records are that a $1.3 million gift has been earmarked for construction as well as $625,000 for first-floor renovations. The total would be $1,925,000.
We asked Moore why the discussion of those projects at the Aug. 17 board meeting was not publicized in advance either by emails or letters or notices in the library itself so citizens could express their views.
He did not answer the question.
Resident Sabina Trager, former library administrative assistant, has an extensive letter in the Sept. 1 Southampton Press saying that it is “undemocratic and un-American that seven appointed/unelected trustees decide how to spend millions of dollars with no community vote.”
Her letter further said: “Audits on the library website show that year after year the board receives much more contract district revenue than it budgets for. Though our taxes are raised ever year, every year there is a surplus. I feel duped that more library tax money was collected from me every year (nearly $500 this year) to renovate a six-year-old building.”
Lo Isidro, senior director at Real Chemistry with more than a decade of strategic communications and PA experience, has joined Narrative Strategies.
Nelson Fernandez, former North American chair of APCO Worldwide and managing director of Burson-Marsteller, has joined Volunteers in Medicine Berkshires as director of communications and PA.
Lilit Bargar, who was most recently an EVP in the healthcare practice at Weber Shandwick, comes on board at GCI Health as EVP, corporate practice lead.
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