Help Us Protect Seven-Year-Old Melanie—And Every Child—from Unchecked Wireless Radiation
Dear Fellow Americans,
My name is John Coates.
My seven-year-old daughter Melanie loves recess, the beach, and chasing lizards on the sidewalk. What she doesn’t love—or even know about—is the 150-foot cell tower standing just 465 feet from her classroom window.
That tower emits radio-frequency (RF) radiation around the clock. The BioInitiative Report, a review of more than 1,800 peer-reviewed studies, says towers should be at least 1,500 feet from schools to safeguard developing brains. Melanie is sitting at one-third of that distance.
If this were only our family’s burden, I’d grit my teeth and find a workaround.
But it isn’t. Towers like ours now loom beside thousands of schools nationwide, and a single, little-known federal clause makes it illegal for any parent or city council to raise health objections.
That clause is Section 704 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act. Until it is repealed, every American child is a silent test subject.
The Law That Gags Communities
“No State or local government may regulate the placement of wireless facilities on the basis of environmental (health) effects of RF emissions.” —Telecommunications Act §704, 1996
-
Strips local control: School boards cannot say “No” to a tower—even with solid medical evidence.
-
Silences free speech: Parents are barred from citing health risks in zoning hearings—a direct hit on our First-Amendment rights.
-
Protects profits, not kids: Wireless carriers expand at will, shielded from accountability.
What Science Says About Kids and RF Radiation
| Risk Category | Key Findings |
|---|---|
| Neuro-development | Yale researchers link prenatal cellphone exposure to ADHD-like symptoms in mice; oxidative-stress mechanisms mirror those in autism and learning disorders. |
| Cancer | The U.S. National Toxicology Program and Italy’s Ramazzini Institute each found increased tumor rates in rodents at — or below — FCC limits. |
| Reproductive & Hormonal | RF exposure lowers testosterone, disrupts ovarian hormones, and raises miscarriage risk. |
Children face triple jeopardy: thinner skulls, rapidly dividing cells, and decades of lifetime exposure.
A Forgotten Safeguard: Public Law 90-602
In 1968 Congress passed the Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act, ordering federal agencies to:
-
Fund continuous research on radiation hazards.
-
Update safety limits with new science.
-
Inform the public about real-world risks.
Yet those mandates sit dormant while Section 704 muzzles local action. Last year the National Toxicology Program lost funding after confirming clear cancer evidence—an open violation of 90-602.
Three Things We Can Do Right Now
-
Repeal Section 704
Write or call your Representative and Senators: “Restore our right to protect local health—strike §704 from the Telecom Act.” -
Enforce Public Law 90-602
Demand that the FDA and FCC adopt modern, non-thermal RF limits crafted by medical experts, not industry engineers from the 1950s radar era. -
Create Safer Classrooms
-
• Hard-wire computers with Ethernet cables
-
• Install Li-Fi or fiber backbones instead of industrial-grade Wi-Fi
-
• Keep personal devices on airplane mode when not in use
-
How You Can Amplify Melanie’s Voice
-
Share her story on social media with #TrumpRepeal704.
-
Invite experts (pediatric neurologists, EMF researchers) to your PTA or city-council meeting.
-
Partner with veterans and first-responders—groups that know radio tech but also know service means guarding the next generation.
-
Support space-based networks (e.g., satellite-to-cell) that keep high-power transmitters out of neighborhoods.
Closing from a Father’s Heart
Melanie doesn’t understand federal statutes or SAR spreadsheets.
She just knows the Pledge of Allegiance ends with “liberty and justice for all.”
Justice means no child should trade brain health for someone else’s quarterly earnings.
Please stand with us. Help us reclaim our constitutional voice, update obsolete safety rules, and move dangerous antennas away from places where children learn, sleep, and dream.
If we don’t act, who will?
With gratitude and resolve,
John Coates
Seminole, Florida
Father of Melanie (Class of 2036)
Quick Links to Act Today
-
Find your Congress members: house.gov/representatives/find
-
Citizen petition template for Section 704 repeal
-
Scientific brief on child RF vulnerability
“The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” —Mahatma Gandhi