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The research studies made by experts on the physical and mental
health hazards of mobile phones and hi-tech equipment, including
computers, have yielded important findings about “cyberbullying.”
“Cyberbullying: its nature and impact in
secondary school pupils” is reported in Blackwell Publishing’s
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines,
Volume 49, Number 4, April 2008, pp. 376-385(10).
The authors are Peter K. Smith, Jess Mahdavi,
Manuel Carvalho, Sonja Fisher, Shanette Russell and Neil Tippett.
Cyberbullying is bullying using cell phones and
the Internet. Most earlier studies have been on the prevalence of
bullying by the use of text message and e-mail.
In this study, two surveys were done with pupils
aged 11 to 16 years: (1) 92 pupils from 14 schools, supplemented by
focus groups; (2) 533 pupils from five schools, to assess if the
findings can be generalized and to investigate relationships of
cyberbullying to general Internet use.
Both studies distinguished cyberbullying done
inside and outside of school and the media of cyberbullying.
The two studies found cyberbullying to be less
commonplace than traditional bullying, yet frequent enough. Cases of
cyberbullying were reported more outside of school than inside.
Phone call and text message bullying were most
prevalent, with instant messaging bullying in the second study.
Their effect on the victim appeared to be
comparable to traditional bullying. Mobile phone/video clip
bullying, while rarer, was perceived to have more negative impact.
Age and gender differences varied between the two studies.
The first study found that most cyberbullying
was done by one or a few students, usually from the same year group.
It often only lasted about a week, though there were longer
incidents. The second study found that being a cybervictim, but not
a cyberbully, correlated with Internet use. And many cybervictims
had also been traditional bullying victims.
Pupils recommended blocking/avoiding messages,
and telling someone, as the best coping strategies; but many
cybervictims had told nobody about it.
The researchers conclusion is that cyberbullying
is an important new kind of bullying, with some different
characteristics from traditional bullying. Much happens outside
school.
Social and educational psychologists have much
more research to make about this phenomenon.
Several researches have been done on RF energy
from cell phones.
One is the “Distribution of RF energy emitted
by mobile phones in anatomical structures of the brain.”
It came out on June 7, 2008 in the journal,
Physics in Medicine and Biology, Volume 53, Number 11, pp.
2771-2783(13). The publisher is the Institute of Physics Publishing.
The authors are E. Cardis, I. Deltour, S. Mann,
M. Moissonnier, M. Taki, N. Varsier, K. Wake and J. Wiart.
Abstract from the publishers says:
“The rapid worldwide increase in mobile phone
use in the last decade has generated considerable interest in
possible carcinogenic effects of radio frequency [RF]. Because
exposure to RF from phones is localized, if a risk exists it is
likely to be greatest for tumors in regions with greatest energy
absorption. The objective of the current paper was to characterize
the spatial distribution of RF energy in the brain, using results of
measurements made in two laboratories on 110 phones used in Europe
or Japan.
“Most [97 percent to 99 percent depending on
frequency] appears to be absorbed in the brain hemisphere on the
side where the phone is used, mainly [50 percent to 60 percent] in
the temporal lobe. The average relative SAR is highest in the
temporal lobe [6 percent to 15 percent, depending on frequency, of
the spatial peak SAR in the most exposed region of the brain] and
the cerebellum [2 percent to 10 percent] and decreases very rapidly
with increasing depth, particularly at higher frequencies. The SAR
distribution appears to be fairly similar across phone models,
between older and newer phones and between phones with different
antenna types and positions.
“Analyses of risk by location of tumor are
therefore important for the interpretation of results of studies of
brain tumors in relation to mobile phone use.”
Another RF study is “Recent Advances in
Research on Radiofrequency Fields and Health: 2001-2003.”
The authors are: Krewski, Daniel; Glickman,
Barry W.; Habash, Riadh W. Y.; Habbick, Brian; Lotz, W. Gregory;
Mandeville, Rosemonde; Prato, Frank S.; Salem, Tarek; Weaver, Donald
F.
The study was reported in the Journal of
Toxicology and Environmental Health Part B: Critical Reviews, Volume
10, Number 4, June 2007, pp. 287-318(32). The publisher is Taylor
and Francis Ltd.
The publisher’s abstract tells us that:
“The widespread use of wireless
telecommunications devices, particularly mobile phones, has resulted
in increased human exposure to radiofrequency [RF] fields. Although
national and international agencies have established safety
guidelines for exposure to RF fields, concerns remain about the
potential for adverse health outcomes to occur in relation to RF
field exposure.
“The extensive literature on RF fields and
health has been reviewed by a number of authorities, including the
Royal Society of Canada [1999], the European Commission’s
Scientific Committee on Toxicity, Ecotoxicity, and the Environment [CSTEE,
2001], the British Medical Association [2001], the Swedish Radiation
Protection Authority [Boice & McLaughlin, 2002], and the Health
Council of the Netherlands [2002]. This report provides an update on
recent research results on the potential health risks of RF fields
since the publication of the Royal Society of Canada report in 1999
[See Krewski et al., 2001a] and our previous 2001 update [Krewski et
al., 2001b], covering the period 2001-2003.
“The present report examines new data on
dosimetry and exposure assessment, biological effects such as enzyme
induction, and toxicological effects, including genotoxicity,
carcinogenicity, and testicular and reproductive outcomes.
Epidemiological studies of mobile phone users and occupationally
exposed populations are examined, along with human and animal
studies of neurological and behavioral effects.
“All of the authoritative reviews completed
within the last two years have concluded that there is no clear
evidence of adverse health effects associated with RF fields.
However, following a recent review of nine epidemiological studies
of mobile phones and cancer, Kundi et al. [2004] concluded that the
possibility of an enhanced cancer risk cannot be excluded.
“These same reviews support the need for
further research to clarify the possible associations between RF
fields and adverse health outcomes that have appeared in some
reports. The results of the ongoing World Health Organization [WHO]
study of mobile phones will provide important new information in
this regard.”
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