Toronto - A group of Ontario teachers is joining a push to remove wireless Internet from classrooms in the province for fear it's harming children's health.

Some parents in central Ontario formed the Simcoe County Safe School Committee when they became concerned Wi-Fi was the cause of symptoms their kids experienced that would clear up on weekends and holidays.

Health Canada says scientific evidence shows that exposure to low-level radiofrequency energy, such as that from Wi-Fi systems, is not dangerous to the public.

But that hasn't stopped the parents from urging the Simcoe County District School Board to turn off the Wi-Fi and plug back in to the Internet. The board has said no such action will be taken because there is no evidence to show children are being made ill by the wireless technology in their classrooms.

Now teachers from the Niagara region are adding their voices to the call to reconsider Wi-Fi in schools. They say even though wireless technology is all around, they want to minimize children's exposure.

Terri Beck is presenting a resolution Tuesday at the annual general meeting of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, on behalf of the Niagara local. It asks for teachers to lobby district school boards "to develop policies that prohibit the use of wireless technologies within schools."

"Parents and teachers are concerned for kids, they're concerned for their developing minds, their developing bodies," said Beck, the vice-president of the Niagara local.

Some 600 teachers are expected to vote on the resolution late Tuesday afternoon.

Radiofrequency energy levels from Wi-Fi equipment in all areas accessible to the general public, including schools, are required to meet federal safety guidelines, Health Canada said in a statement.

"Levels of radiofrequency energy emitted from Wi-Fi equipment are typically well below these safety limits," Health Canada said.

"As long as exposure in schools is below these established limits, there is no convincing scientific evidence that this equipment is dangerous to schoolchildren."

Beck said there is scientific information on both sides of the debate, but listed headaches, concentration difficulties, memory problems and restlessness as possible problems kids could face.

"We know that kids are in school for seven hours a day. We as teachers are not trying to limit the access that kids have to technology," Beck said.

"We're asking instead that kids are plugged in - not using wireless technology."

The idea for the resolution came from a union member who Beck said is speaking out as both a parent and a teacher.

In Barrie, Ont., at least one parent said he was looking into other schooling options for his two children in September if their classrooms are still wireless. Parents belonging to the Simcoe County Safe School Committee say they realized their children were displaying the same sorts of symptoms - headaches, dizziness and nausea - and that the problems went away when kids weren't in school.

Ontario Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky said the question of whether wireless Internet technology is safe in Ontario schools is in Ottawa's hands.

"This is a responsibility of Health Canada to ensure that these technologies ... are safe," she said outside the teachers' meeting. "That's what we're asking them to look into."

Dombrowsky said she is expecting an answer "within weeks" from the federal health minister, after sending a letter with parents complaints. Her ministry has received complaints from the Simcoe area and the Peterborough area so far, she said.

"The best information that I have from Health Canada and the World Health Organization very much conflicts with what has been presented by families," Dombrowsky said.

In a letter dated Aug. 16, Ontario NDP health critic France Gelinas called on the province's Chief Medical Officer of Health to give "clear public health guidelines for exposure to Wi-Fi technology for different age groups, including school aged children."

Gelinas said she has heard from many parents who are worried about the symptoms their children show when they are exposed to microwave radiation from wireless technology.