Investigation of secondary school students' awareness and perceptions about non-ionizing radiation

Although too much emphasis is placed on the knowledge and risk of ionizing radiation and students' knowledge and awareness of this subject, information about non-ionizing radiation and students' awareness is either insufficient or underemphasized. Ionizing radiations are high energy radiation while non-ionizing radiation is relatively low energy radiations that do not have enough energy to ionize atoms or molecules. In modern society, non-ionizing radiation has an important role. The rapid growth of mobile phone use and wireless communication technology has become a part of our daily life. Although non-ionizing radiation is considered to be less dangerous than ionizing radiation, excessive exposure to non-ionizing radiation can cause some health problems. This study examined the perceptions, awareness and knowledge of students in the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades of secondary education towards non-ionizing radiation. For this purpose, an instrument was developed by conducting two pilot studies. Then, this scale was evaluated by applying it to 951 students. At the end of the study, it was determined that the students did not know the difference between ionizing radiation and radioactive radiation, and they thought that mobile phones and base stations emit radioactive radiation. It was concluded that the students were not very careful about using mobile phones and spent long hours using them. At the end of the study, suggestions were made to improve secondary school students' knowledge about electromagnetic radiation.