OT - Mass Hysteria?

In article <[email hidden]>, Tom Crispin
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Googling for "mass hysteria" the definition doesn't quite seem to fit,
but I expect that it was it was.

Sounds more like a poltergeist manifestation to me - the place is
definitely cursed. :-)

Tom Crispin said:

I was away from home last week. I took a class of 24 nine year old
children on a geography field trip, with one other teacher and a
teaching assistant.

On Wednesday, at about 7pm someone arrived with a handful of mail for
the children. (One of the children's grandparents works with someone
who lives close to the centre where we were staying).

At about 7.30 we organised a campfire and songs for the children.

At about 9.30, tired and excited, we returned to the dormitories and
classroom. One of the children slipped and badly cut his cheek, just
below the eye. The cut was certainly the deepest I have ever seen,
and definitely required proper medical attention. Among our school
staff was a teaching assistant who is an experienced first aider, so
while she treated the child, I went for help.

I used the radio in the visiting teacher's staff room to contact the
duty centre teacher, and she called for the ambulance. I returned to
the dormitories and classroom. The injured boy was being well cared
for in the classroom, but in the girls' and boys' dormitories there
was mayhem.

Five children had vomited, and all but three children were sobbing,
asking for their homes or mums and saying that the place was cursed.
Many were finding breathing difficult, and three had asthma attacks.

During my ten years as a teacher I have experienced children with many
injuries, including broken limbs, a head trapped in railings, lost
teeth and several non-trivial cuts. The most serious of which I have
had to deal with personally was a dislocated and broken ankle, where
the bone protruded in woodland during a night time cycle ride, when we
had to wait over an hour for help to arrive. But never have I
experienced children's reaction like this.

There is nothing more likely to change the whole atmosphere of a
camp/residential experience more than contact with home.Contsact that is
more often than not initiated by the parents rather than the YP, why
can't parents let their children enjoy the experience without
interfering? I have had kids fall over with "tummy upsets" ( If they are
feeling miserable it's always the tummy that gets it) one by one like
dominoes after just one mobile phone call from/to mummy

Quoted message said:

Googling for "mass hysteria" the definition doesn't quite seem to fit,
but I expect that it was it was.

The combination of tiredness, letters from home and excitement over
the camp fire led the children to make themselves ill over a minor
accident.

By 11.30, and following hot chocolate and a biscuit, and writing get
well cards to the injured boy, all was calm.

You fed them after dark? You mad impetous fool you!

You poor thing!

I dearly hope that no complaints/litigation follow!

Accidents *will* happen and I'm willing to bet that the lad with the cut
face was not terribly put out by the incident. Nine-year-olds can be
fairly brave/philosophical about this sort of thing IME.

I think this was mass hysteria precipitated by all the factors you
listed. I suppose the only lesson to be learned is that kids mustn't get
too tired/hungry/excited etc

HOW BORING!!!

--
Helen D. Vecht: [email hidden]
Edgware.

Tom Crispin formulated on Saturday :

Quoted message said:

I was away from home last week. I took a class of 24 nine year old
children on a geography field trip, with one other teacher and a
teaching assistant.

On Wednesday, at about 7pm someone arrived with a handful of mail for
the children. (One of the children's grandparents works with someone
who lives close to the centre where we were staying).

At about 7.30 we organised a campfire and songs for the children.

At about 9.30, tired and excited, we returned to the dormitories and
classroom. One of the children slipped and badly cut his cheek, just
below the eye. The cut was certainly the deepest I have ever seen,
and definitely required proper medical attention. Among our school
staff was a teaching assistant who is an experienced first aider, so
while she treated the child, I went for help.

I used the radio in the visiting teacher's staff room to contact the
duty centre teacher, and she called for the ambulance. I returned to
the dormitories and classroom. The injured boy was being well cared
for in the classroom, but in the girls' and boys' dormitories there
was mayhem.

Five children had vomited, and all but three children were sobbing,
asking for their homes or mums and saying that the place was cursed.
Many were finding breathing difficult, and three had asthma attacks.

During my ten years as a teacher I have experienced children with many
injuries, including broken limbs, a head trapped in railings, lost
teeth and several non-trivial cuts. The most serious of which I have
had to deal with personally was a dislocated and broken ankle, where
the bone protruded in woodland during a night time cycle ride, when we
had to wait over an hour for help to arrive. But never have I
experienced children's reaction like this.

Googling for "mass hysteria" the definition doesn't quite seem to fit,
but I expect that it was it was.

The combination of tiredness, letters from home and excitement over
the camp fire led the children to make themselves ill over a minor
accident.

I had a similar experience with a Year 6 group a few years back. One of
them sprayed deodorant into a fire alarm sensor (yes, quite) and the
simple experience of evacuating the residential centre where we were
staying sent the whole lot mad. It took about half an hour to get
anywhere near calming them (although this wasn't helped that we
couldn't work out how to turn the rather loud alarm), and we (or rather
I) had the vomit thing to sort out, too.

Quoted message said:

By 11.30, and following hot chocolate and a biscuit, and writing get
well cards to the injured boy, all was calm.

The injured child has had to have ten stitches, but is otherwise well.

Glad to hear it.

--
Simon