How to Reduce Your Child’s EMF & Blue Light Exposure During the Holidays

Last Updated on October 4, 2023

Reducing EMF Exposure During the Holiday and Gift Giving Season

As the holiday and gift giving season sneaks up on us, safety might not be the first thing on parents’ minds.

Yet now is the perfect time to think about safety since December brings lots of holiday shopping, travel, and family time.

Whether parents want to admit it or not, sometimes allowing your child to watch YouTube or play a game on your cell phone or tablet allows you a few minutes (or even an hour) of calm that you might desperately need during the stressful holiday season.

Sometimes you just need a few minutes to wrap gifts! DefenderShield has plenty of solutions for keeping your children safe while they use mobile devices that emit Electromagnetic Field (EMF) radiation, such as cell phones and tablets, during the holidays and all year long.

What is EMF Radiation?

All mobile electronic devices—including tablets and cell phones—emit EMF radiation, an invisible form of energy.

Exposure to EMF radiation can become harmful when we constantly use our mobile devices close to our bodies over long periods of time. As we have written about before, certain parts of the body, such as the head and torso (including the chest and reproductive area), are much more vulnerable to EMF emissions than the arms and legs.

Studies have found links between EMF exposure to everything from minor health concerns such as headaches and skin rashes, to very serious concerns, such as fertility problems, DNA fragmentation, cell damage, and cancerous tumors.

These concerns are especially relevant to children, since their soft tissue is still developing and more susceptible to EMF radiation. Research studies exist linking EMF exposure to a number of health risks and learning disabilities later in the child’s life.

Why is Blue Light Harmful?

In addition to EMF radiation, electronic device screens emit Blue Light, which has its own potential health effects such as eye strain that can result in headaches, fatigue, dry eyes, problems focusing, and interfering with sleep.

In a recent article, we talked about the high energy of Blue Light emitted from mobile device screens and the effects it can have on our eyes. Children are actually more vulnerable to the effects of Blue Light than any other age group.

This is for two reasons: their eyes haven’t had enough time to develop proper protection, and they have greater sleep needs than adults do.

Learn More About Blue Light

Tips for Protecting Your Children

Below are some simple tips for reducing the effects of EMF radiation and Blue Light exposure, to keep your children as safe as possible while using mobile devices during the holidays.

Limit the amount of time you and your children use mobile electronic devices and try to keep them from touching the body. The less time we use these devices, and the more distance we create, the less EMF radiation and blue light exposure. For example, when traveling by airplane to visit family in another state, put your tablet on the tray table instead of keeping it on your lap.
If you’re using your cell phone and don’t need an active Cellular, WiFi, or Bluetooth connection, enable airplane mode, even if you’re not flying. If you must stay connected, turn Bluetooth off whenever you can. When you don’t need to be connected to WiFi you can turn it off as well. Both WiFi and Bluetooth increase the amount of radiation emitted by your device, even if your device is not actively connected or paired.
Use wired headphones when talking on the phone or listening to music. Extending the distance between the of the side of your head and your cell phone is a critical step in reducing health risks. For even more safety, think about using radiation-free air tube headphones, which can completely eliminate EMF radiation from reaching the head.
At night, keep your devices out of the bedroom if possible. Create a charging area for your family in a room (or area in a hotel room if traveling) where no one sleeps to eliminate exposure to EMF radiation. Each night, all devices should be placed in that area to charge, while being far away from your sleeping children. Moreover, Blue Light can cause the most eye strain when used in an otherwise completely dark room.
Not only does talking on the phone while driving decrease focus, when you’re cruising down the highway at 70 MPH on the way to Grandma’s house, your distance from cell towers is constantly changing. This movement causes your cell phone to more frequently send out stronger pulses of EMF radiation as it searches for the closest tower or satellite to keep a strong connection. In addition, if your phone is connected via Bluetooth in the car, EMF exposure is increased for the entire family. Use an auxiliary cord when playing music from your phone instead to decrease EMF.
Get EMF radiation protection cases for all your mobile devices, especially those your children will use during holiday travel.
Reduce the intensity of blue light emitted by the devices. Simply turn the brightness down to the lowest setting at which your kids can still see comfortably to reduce eye strain. Yellow-hued light is much easier on the eyes and does not disrupt sleep the way blue light does. Many cell phones have a “night shift” option built in, and you can set it to automatically transition to warmer lighting when evening comes. In fact, you can activate this feature all the time if you choose.
Consider having your children wear blue light blocking glasses for kids to minimize any harm from blue light emitting from mobile device screens. These glasses have special orange-tinted lenses that filter out blue light, and this pair is made specifically for children. Not to mention, they make a perfect stocking stuffer!
“Choose safe toys for your children, not Wi-Fi connected toys or smartphones,” is a message the Environmental Health Trust recently shared after the FCC lost a landmark court case showing 5G and wireless radiation standards fail to adequately protect children and the public.

When it comes to your children’s safety during the holidays, simple actions and awareness of EMF and Blue Light exposure can oftentimes be the most effective.

Remember, you can always ditch the electronic devices altogether and introduce some books and games to entertain your children while you’re cooking a holiday meal or making your way to family gatherings.

Wishing you and your family stress-free and safe holiday season!