Middle School Students Receive 5G-Equipped Chromebooks (Connecticut)

By B.N. Frank

In 2019, Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut addressed telecom executives about health risks from 5G exposure. The executives said that they had NO independent scientific evidence that proved it’s safe.

Later in 2019, then presidential candidate Joe Biden was confronted with this fact and said

WATCH: A woman in Iowa tells @JoeBiden the 5G in the area is making people sick and their "minds are breaking down."

Biden replies: "There is a lot of debate in the scientific community of whether or not 5G does what you are saying. It should be studied thoroughly…" @CBSNews pic.twitter.com/dE2xVivS86

— Bo Erickson CBS (@BoKnowsNews) December 29, 2019

So far, there has been no indication that anyone in now President Biden’s administration has ordered 5G be “studied thoroughly”.

In May of this year, scientists submitted a letter to President Biden asking him to protect the public from 5G and other unsafe technology. Instead, he committed to adding more. Of course, some American schools are adding more too. Good luck, kiddos!

From Gov Tech:

Norwalk, Conn., Students Receive 5G-Equipped Chromebooks

Students received a new Chromebook with 5G access built into the device. Those without access at home can access the Internet anywhere with these devices, making it easier to collaborate on projects.

(TNS) — Ponus Ridge STEAM Academy celebrated the arrival of new Chromebooks for its students with a physics carnival on Wednesday.

Ponus Ridge was one of the three Norwalk middle schools to receive the devices through a partnership with Digital Promise and Verizon Innovative Learning, an education initiative from Verizon dedicated to addressing barriers in digital inclusion. The partnership, announced earlier this year, will also benefit students at Nathan Hale and West Rocks middle schools.

“We’re looking forward to this partnership as we close a number of gaps, our economic gap, our achievement gap, and most importantly, a hope gap. As we continue with the 21st century, we want to make sure all of our students are college and/or career ready,” Principal Damon Lewis told families gathered for the kickoff event.

Each school participating will receive about $1.8 million in programs and services for the first two years of the program. The grant will amount to $5.4 million in value overall for the first two years, including the cost of the data plans, devices and professional development. The grants funds were factored into the 2021-22 budget.

Students received a new Chromebook with 5G access built into the device. Students without Internet access at home can access the Internet anywhere with these devices, making it easier to collaborate on projects and expand their learning opportunities.

“They get to take these devices home and use them 24/7. In fact, they’re encouraged to use it as their personal device,” said Tina Henckel, education administrator for school support and improvement for STEM (K-12).

Amy Fusarelli, an instructional coach for digital learning, added, “The biggest goal of this is to increase the digital learning as far as them being able to have student choice for projects, being able to use more digital tools, a lot more collaboration.”

Each device came with a charger and a case. In the coming days, students and teachers will learn how to best use the device, how to take care of the device, and how to integrate the use of the device into their classes, whether its STEM related or not.

Students got a taste of those STEM and STEAM-related opportunities during the carnival with activities spread across the gymnasium floor. High school students and district staff members hosted stations that introduced students to robotics, coding and engineering, as well as how those fields play into the arts.

Prior to the partnership, the district was already implementing instructional coaches like Fusarelli into the schools. Verizon will now pay a portion of those coaches’ salaries, which allowed the district to scale up the program and develop best practices.

For Lewis, the partnership came at the perfect time as the school continues its transition to a full STEAM academy. The program will help the school with new curricula, new teacher strategies, new collaborative practice and additional professional development. And the broadband access provided by the device is huge for his students.

“Two years ago, when we first went home, we had so many kids were Internet void at home,” said Lewis, who stressed that each student received a Chromebook before leaving school, but they all couldn’t access what they needed from their homes. “I can’t tell you the amount of kids that we’d get emails from that were literally walking to the laundromat or somewhere they could connect to Wi-Fi just to get their work done.”

He added, “With these new 5G Chromebooks, that’s no longer a reason for students to not be able to access and connect with the entire world.”

American opposition to 5G has been ongoing due to concerns about cybersecurity (see 1, 2, 3), public safety (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), health (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10), economic and environmental risks (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Lawsuits have been filed against deployment on Earth (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and in space (see 1, 2). Additionally, reviews have indicated that 4G service is still more private, reliable and secure than 5G (see 1, 2, 3).

Nevertheless, 5G deployment continues throughout the U.S. (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13) including at military bases. Of course, there are health and environmental risks associated with 4G and other sources of wireless radiation too (see 1, 2, 3). That’s why schools worldwide have been replacing Wi-Fi with hardwired internet.

Cities AND entire countries have taken action to ban, delay, halt, and limit 5G installation AS WELL AS issue moratoriums. Since 2017 doctors and scientists have been asking for moratoriums on Earth and in space (see 1, 2) and the majority of scientists oppose deployment. Since 2018 there have been reports of people and animals experiencing symptoms and illnesses after 5G was activated (see 1. 2, 3, 4).