When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. campaigned on dismantling corporate capture and restoring public health, many believed it was a moment for truth to rise over profit. But with his recent push to ban cell phones in schools, he’s doing something eerily familiar: shifting the burden from corporations to children. This is not bold leadership. It’s political theater that mirrors delay tactics from industries we’ve fought before—like Big Tobacco and Big Auto.
Banning Phones Isn’t Protection. It’s Deflection.
Let’s be clear: taking phones out of children’s hands for a few school hours a day does nothing to stop the chronic exposure they face from cell towers surrounding their schools. My own daughter attends a school just 465 feet from a cell tower. Independent science, like the BioInitiative Report, recommends a minimum of 1,500 feet to reduce risk. But instead of removing the source of exposure, Kennedy is banning the tools that could actually help children learn—if configured safely.
Section 704: The Silent Tyrant
The reason we can’t do anything about that tower is Section 704 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act. This law strips local governments and parents of any power to object to cell tower placement on health grounds. Even if parents know the risks, they can’t stop the tower. It is the ultimate example of federal overreach, where corporate interests override local rights and the health of our children.
And Kennedy? He’s said nothing yet about repealing this unconstitutional law. Instead, he bans phones and leaves towers untouched.
Public Law 90-602: A Law Ignored
Passed in 1968, Public Law 90-602 requires ongoing research into radiation-emitting devices and mandates updated safety standards as new evidence emerges. It is still in effect. But the government isn’t following it. The National Toxicology Program (NTP) found “clear evidence” that wireless radiation causes cancer in animals—then had its funding cut. This is a blatant violation of federal law. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, RFK Jr. is now responsible for upholding this law. Every day that he doesn’t act to reinstate NTP funding or modernize RF safety standards is a day he is in direct violation of the law.
Big Tobacco All Over Again
The tobacco industry didn’t start with cancer warnings. They started with restrictions on sales to kids in the 1880s. It took a full century before the U.S. government finally said: “Smoking Causes Lung Cancer.”
Banning kids while letting the industry continue as usual is a distraction tactic—not protection. It’s designed to delay regulation while pretending to care. That’s what Big Tobacco did. And that’s what RFK Jr. is now doing for Big Wireless.
Phones Are Not the Problem. Infrastructure Is.
My daughter uses AI on her phone to learn. It’s like having a PhD tutor in her pocket. We use Li-Fi at home—a light-based wireless network that doesn’t emit harmful radiation. Safe solutions already exist. What we need is a mandate for safe technologies, not a ban on useful tools.
The problem is not the phone. It’s the outdated infrastructure and the regulatory system that allows microwave radiation to flood classrooms and playgrounds. The real danger is not in children’s hands, it’s above their heads and outside their windows.
Lessons from the Automotive Industry
When we discovered that vehicle emissions were harming public health, we didn’t ban cars. We mandated safer emissions. The result wasn’t economic collapse. It was innovation: catalytic converters, smog pumps, EGR valves. We didn’t just clean the air—we built entire industries around making transportation safer.
We can do the same for wireless technology.
Mandating Li-Fi in schools, enforcing buffer zones around schools for tower placement, and creating devices engineered for safety would spark new industries, new jobs, and a new era of health-conscious tech development. Just like the auto industry evolved, the telecom industry can be held accountable and pushed to innovate—but only if our leaders stop playing it safe and start enforcing the law.
The Path Forward
RFK Jr. is no longer an outsider. He is Secretary of HHS, the office responsible for enforcing Public Law 90-602. He must:
- Restore NTP funding and resume research into RF radiation.
- Mandate updated safety standards based on current science.
- Officially inform the public of the risks.
- Repeal Section 704 and return zoning control to communities.
- Mandate safer technologies like Li-Fi in all U.S. schools.
This Is Not Optional. It’s the Law.
Children are being harmed by a system that was rigged in 1996 and never corrected. Towers remain legal at 465 feet from schools. Wi-Fi continues to emit harmful radiation in classrooms. And the agencies responsible for updating safety standards have been silent.
The truth is: Kennedy now holds the keys. What he does next will define whether he is the liberator he promised to be, or just another gatekeeper shielding industry from accountability.
Let’s demand real leadership—not more symbolic bans. Let’s demand the enforcement of existing laws. Let’s build the future on truth, safety, and innovation that aligns with life—all life.
