Login
Screen time poses a risk to kids’ health because wireless devices expose children to harmful electromagnetic fields (EMFs), according to a new position statement issued by the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF).
The 23-page statement, issued Sept. 9, cited over 100 published scientific studies documenting how EMFs at levels currently allowed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can harm human health.
Devices like tablets and cellphones emit EMFs via their wireless connections, electrical components and charging systems, the group said.
Studies have linked children’s excessive screen use to poor sleep, cognition, academic performance, social and emotional development, brain function, visual health and cardiometabolic function, and an increased risk of chronic disease, including diabetes.
Wireless radiation emitted when a child holds or watches a wireless device contributes to these conditions, according to ICBE-EMF.
Young children are especially at risk, the ICBE-EMF said:
“Children can be more vulnerable than adults to the health impacts of wireless radiation because it penetrates deeper and has higher absorption rates in regions of a child’s brain, and because their still-developing brains and physiological systems are more sensitive to environmental toxicants.”
ICBE-EMF is a “consortium of scientists, doctors and related professionals” who study wireless radiation and recommend wireless radiation exposure guidelines “based on the best peer-reviewed scientific research publications.”
The group called on governments, schools and the wireless industry to work together to reduce kids’ exposure to EMFs.
“By acting now to reduce exposure and adopt safer technologies, we can better ensure technological progress does not come at the expense of the next generation’s health and well-being,” the group said.
Miriam Eckenfels, director of the Children’s Health Defense Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) & Wireless Program, said it’s important that parents, schools and policymakers “reconsider our children’s engagement with technology and start moving towards getting children off screens at home and in schools.”
ICBE-EMF issued its statement less than two weeks after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) held a Live Real Life Symposium that focused on addressing the harms of screen use for children and encouraging them to engage in lots of non-screen activities.
Posting about the event on X, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote, “Our children get one childhood, and we cannot allow screens to replace the real-world experiences they need to grow and thrive.”
Our children get one childhood, and we cannot allow screens to replace the real-world experiences they need to grow and thrive.
Through the Office of the Surgeon General’s Live Real Life initiative, we are giving families practical tools to put technology in its proper place… pic.twitter.com/tO3XRPi9aK
— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) September 13, 2026
In May, the Office of the Surgeon General issued a warning about the harms of excessive screen use for children and teens. The report included a toolkit for families, schools and community organizations that want to help children develop healthier digital habits.
What can schools do?
In its position statement, ICBE-EMF said that children especially need stronger protections against the harms of screen time and wireless radiation at school.
“Schools should be safe environments for learning. Yet, the widespread use of wireless technologies from Wi-Fi laptops and tablets to smartboards and cell phones has transformed classrooms into settings of chronic, unnecessarily high EMF exposure,” ICBE-EMF wrote.
The group urged schools to:
- Replace school Wi-Fi networks with hardwired Ethernet internet connections.
- Require that cellphones be powered off and stored during the school day in a shielded storage container that blocks wireless radiation, such as a Faraday box.
- Ensure students learn and play far away from electrical equipment and charging stations.
- Urge the local school board to create a team that routinely measures EMF levels in and around school buildings to ensure that levels are kept as low as possible.
“Children have the right to grow, learn, and thrive in environments free from avoidable health hazards. … The technologies shaping our future should not compromise the health of the next generation,” the ICBE-EMF wrote.
This article was funded by critical thinkers like you.
The Defender is 100% reader-supported. No corporate sponsors. No paywalls. Our writers and editors rely on you to fund stories like this that mainstream media won’t write.
Data centers also increase kids’ EMF exposure
It’s not just screens at school that are increasing kids’ EMF exposure, the ICBE-EMF said. “The rise of artificial intelligence is driving massive growth in energy-hungry data centers,” ICBE-EMF wrote.
Nearly 1,900 U.S. public schools are within 1 mile of a data center, according to a report published last month by The 74.
ICBE-EMF pointed out that data centers have big demands for power lines and electric substations, which emit extremely low-level frequency EMFs linked to an increased risk of leukemia.
Current government limits don’t adequately protect children’s health from EMFs from data centers and other EMF-emitting structures and devices, including cellphones and cell towers, the group said.
Governments must update their limits to accurately account for children’s exposures in modern life, ICBE-EMF wrote.
“The failure to update exposure limits for non-ionizing EMFs in the face of mounting scientific evidence portends a public health crisis, endangering children, families, and future generations worldwide,” the group said.
In May, Children’s Health Defense filed a new federal case seeking to force the FCC, which sets wireless radiation exposure limits in the U.S., to comply with a 2021 court order requiring the agency to explain how it determined that current exposure limits adequately protect people and the environment.
The case, CHD et al. v. FCC, asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to issue a Writ of Mandamus directing the FCC to comply with the 2021 mandate within 90 days.
On Aug. 26, the court responded by giving the FCC until Sept. 25 to respond to CHD’s petition.
Related articles in The Defender
- BREAKING: HHS Releases Surgeon General’s Warning on Screen Time for Kids
- Wireless Radiation Limits at Least 200 Times Too High to Protect Against Cancer Risks
- RFK Jr. Tells USA Today: Wireless Radiation Is ‘Major Health Concern’
- Kids’ Sleeping Problems Linked to Wireless Radiation, Screens
- Screen Time Increases Kids’ Risk of High Blood Pressure, Insulin Resistance
