Mass Hypnosis at Private Canadian School Event Goes Alarmingly Awry

Mass Hypnosis at Canadian Sherbrooke School Goes Awry; Mentor Hypnotist Forced to Come Help

(Photo: Screen Shot)

A private school in Quebec recently featured a hypnotist for an end-of-year school activity, and it wasn’t quite as entertaining as predicted.

After several of the students at the private girls‘ school didn’t snap out of the hypnosis– one girl for close to five hours, reports say– 20-year-old hypnotist Maxime Nadeau was forced to call his mentor for what Canada’s CBC News called an “emergency intervention.”

CBC continues:

[Nadeau] worked on a small group while others watched the show. When it came time to end the event, several girls in the audience remained mesmerized and couldn’t snap out of it, no matter what Nadeau did.

[...]

He called his mentor and trainer, Richard Whitbread, who made the hour-long trek to the school from his home in the town of Danville.

Whitbread found several girls were still suffering the effects of “mass hypnosis.”

“There were a couple of students who had their heads lying on the table and there were [others] who, you could tell, were in trance,” he said. “The eyes were open and there was nobody home.”

Whitbread said he went through the process of making the girls think they were being re-hypnotized and then brought them out using a stern voice.

Watch video of the event, below:

The mentor speculated that because Nadeau was young and attractive, and dealing with 12-13-year-old girls, they may have been more keen than the average person to follow his instructions, and therefore fell deeper into a trance than intended.

CBC described the girls’ reactions:

The girls later described being under the sustained spell as feeling spaced out, with heavy limbs.

One student who was watching the show said it felt like an out-of-body experience.

“I don’t know how to explain it. It‘s like you’re no longer there,” Émilie Bertrand said. “You’re spaced out.”

[...]

Bertrand said even if the show effects lingered, everyone still enjoyed it.

“It was still a good activity,” she said. “At the start, it was funny. Even if there were consequences after, I’d do it again.”

Administrators at the show said they found out soon after that hypnosis is not recommended for children under the age of 14, the Huffington Post reports, because they can be more sensitive to its effects.

And while the interviewed students didn’t seem particularly troubled by the events of the day, many parents are questioning the school’s decision to hypnotize the students in the first place.

“WHAT was this school thinking?” a commenter asked.  “Children should NOT be hypnotized…Period!”

(H/T: Fark)

Comments (164)

  • barber2
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 7:39pm

    Does this explain the ACORN members, our OWS people and the Obama Theater of the Absurd Players who disrupt Republican gatherings ? Maybe mass hysteria explains the clueless , mindless adoration of our young people for the Pied Piper Far Lefties who are taking them on this Crusade of Destruction ? Reminds me of a replay of the Children’s Crusade… that didn’t end well….

    Report Post »  
    • rangerp
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 8:33pm

      no different than a rock concert

      Report Post » rangerp  
    • black9897
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 10:21pm

      Poliwhirl used hypnosis!

      Report Post » black9897  
    • forthepeople
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 10:59pm

      Indirectly YES ! it does , TV tube / Ideology ( no not news anymore ) media drumming the same false message day in / day out .

      Report Post » forthepeople  
    • Captain Crunch
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 12:29am

      In regards to the liberal Marxists mindset, I am reminded of a lyric in an old song…“the hypnotized never lie” They are like zombies.

      Report Post »  
    • Mil Mom
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 1:28am

      Repeat after me: “O-B-A-M-A! ….F-O-U-R M-0-R-E Y-E-A-R-S! …MUST VOTE EARLY AND VOTE OFTEN!!!”
      To young? Nah, Eric Holder and the Dept of Education will NEVER agree to that.

      Report Post » Mil Mom  
    • Mil Mom
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 1:32am

      @Barber2
      re : Maybe mass hysteria explains the clueless , mindless adoration of our young people for the Pied Piper Far Lefties who are taking them on this Crusade of Destruction ? Reminds me of a replay of the Children’s Crusade… that didn’t end well….
      ***
      Didn’t we see that in “Baby Genius II? Maybe that’s where Axlerod and Fluffy got their script for the campaign and presidency!

      Report Post » Mil Mom  
    • wdittgasn
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 3:54am

      It is people with weak minds that can be hypnotized, and they do it to themselves. and the deserve what they get…. All of the trolls on here have been done this way.

      Report Post » wdittgasn  
    • wdittgasn
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 3:55am

      MIL MOM, You forgot the before and after MMM MMM MMM.

      Report Post » wdittgasn  
    • Lotus4115
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:07am

      Churches do the same thing!!!!!!!!

      Report Post » Lotus4115  
    • contkmi
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:27am

      Lotus, proving the idiocy of the ill-informed…

      Report Post » contkmi  
    • hobieone
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 10:39am

      I have two points:

      1. The hypnotist was inexperienced. The girls would have “waken-up” on their own, given a bit more time.

      2. Obama’s speeches are actually filled with hypnotic persuasion techniques. Mostly “NLP” type wording. The use of stories to leverage the manipulation of metaphors and emotions is obvious.

      There are less obvious uses such as “This is not amnesty. This is not immunity. This is not a path to citizenship. It’s not a permanent fix,“ There is a aspect of the mind that tends not ”hear” negative words when used in this way. Especially when repeated in this way. People do tend to hear what they want to hear. The people Obama hopes to influence with this act will hear “This is amnesty. This is immunity. This is a path to citizenship. It’s a permanent fix.”. Whether the words are true or not doesn’t matter, his wording is formed to influence his target.

      Another example is when he said “because “it’s the right thing to do.” The use of the word “because” is a classic example of persuasion techniques as well. It leverages our mind’s learned behaviors to accept what he says afterward – “it’s the right thing to do”. As a result of this, in the back of the mind, a person will tend to feel that to not do what he says is emotionally felt as the “wrong” thing to do.

      Persuasion techniques are commonly expected to shift 10% of an average group of people’s opinion. That percentage would be higher when the group

      Report Post »  
    • Dishevel
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 10:49am

      The tragedy!
      Do not people know by now that Vertical Video is bad?

      Report Post »  
    • michael48
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 12:07pm

      actually…the red brigade pre-school indoctrination class…12-13-14 year old’s????…probably the leadership team for OWS chairman ocommie herd…

      Report Post »  
    • Thomas Paine
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 12:30pm

      Yep, Its called brainwashing.

      Report Post » Thomas Paine  
    • @leftfighter
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 1:28pm

      Hypnosis.

      What a crock.

      Does anyone actually believe this stuff?

      I once had someone try to hypnotize me and all that happened to me was (after about 15 minutes of him trying) I just gave up and went along with it.

      Same goes for the subliminal white noise tapes. Yeah, I fall alseep, but no faster or slower than I would if listening to regular beach noise.

      Report Post » @leftfighter  
    • Cesium
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 2:58pm

      RANGERP is like the Waterboys mother… “IT’S THE DEVIL!”

      Report Post »  
    • Lotus4115
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 4:54pm

      contkmi;
      You must be joking! Beck Tard! Oh thats right, you only read the bible.

      Report Post » Lotus4115  
  • Old_Bones
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 7:34pm

    All is well, that ends well.

    Report Post » Old_Bones  
    • oldduffer
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 9:59pm

      Sorry but even years down the line there’s liable to be serious problems related to her back and their memories. Don‘t laugh because it’s no fun in a walker, sometimes two canes, always one cane and sometimes a wheelchair. YOU don’t screw around with developing skeletal structures and especially w/o parents consent and a proven hypnotist. Pain management hypnosis is available if she needs it and it could develop that she will and that’s by a Dr. with experience and training not to mention a degree. Not some 20 yr. old kid still wet behind the ears.

      Report Post »  
    • Melika
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 10:53pm

      @OldDuffer: So the girl in the photo is liable to have problems later in life to the extent of requiring a cane, 2 canes, crutches, a wheelchair, another cane, and back into a wheelchair, because of the short time she spent on a table, ostensibly performing “planking”, but the sports, games, accidents, work, and age won’t do anything worth worrying about. To top it all, you’re now believing these girls were “mesmerized” by yet another modern pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo belief used as entertainment. *sigh*

      Report Post »  
    • MrObvious
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:10am

      lol … Hypnosis is real; but, there does not seem to be any significant damage, long term or otherwise, in this case. Although, the risk of real damage did exist. If any of the students had had a violent reaction, the results could have been different. That mentor should be on-hand, next time his student decides to do this.

      Report Post »  
  • Freeflyer
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 7:21pm

    I remember the days of something called “parental consent”. It seems the school was negligent in holding a mass hypnosis event without the parent’s knowledge and even more troubling is what will they come up with next. I can’t even fathom that happening when I, or my children, were in school. This is education?

    Report Post »  
    • mbck1491
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 7:37pm

      Don‘t forget it’s the Canadian School system where they don’t need parental consent since the school administrators are “co-parents”.

      Report Post »  
    • Battlecarrot
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 8:44pm

      ‘CO-PARENT’: CANADIAN EDUCATOR’S ODD RESPONSE TO MEDIA
      ADVERTISEMENT

      So now teachers and school administrators are “co-parents”. Freaking unbelievable.

      The public education system is out of control. I would support any political party that makes a serious effort to implement a voucher system so parents can remove their children from this soul destroying, family destroying system. I don’t think public education under Stalin was this bad.

      The overwhelming public opinion on this story says that the school overstepped its authority.

      Uuuuuuh……..you’tr full of ****,Dude-ONE ******* principal said that and was forced into a GROVELING apology. YOU live in the USSA Doodle a$$.Your teachers,if they’re not scr ewing your kids are teaching them all sorts of nasty **** and making good little commies out of them.So STFU ,Doodle.The USSA is fckd under Obeelzebub and it looks like you fools are going to reelect him.

      Report Post »  
    • Hobbs57
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 10:36pm

      While in Australia, I was verbally attacked by youth‘s for smoking cigarette’s. These kids were calling me druggie and everything else, I never seen anything like it .. That is, until today ! I was working at a close friend and client’s house today and his 5 year old daughter got really bossie with me, telling me she could smell cigarette smoke coming through the kitchen window above me. I told her I was sorry and that I would move away from the house.. She told me NO, She proceeded to tell me I couldn’t smoke at all while workin at her house at all. I was gentle with the situation, because I don’t want to dissuade her from her feeling towards smoking, for it isn’t a good habit, but I am sure she had to get this stuff at the public school… I started thinking about it and it occurred to me that these schools are even telling these kids that they have authority over adults…. In no way should a child be so empowered, for they are 100% dependent and have no ability to be independent at that age.. so these children should not have such a sense of empowerment .. This is the government creeping in to our children so they are ripe when the time comes to call the chickens home to roost .. Hang on America, if we don’t put a stop to this, we will be a lot of old people against a very large younger population backed by the government power and forces. Look at the whole gay thing, bullying and so on .. This is not the place for the schools or government!!

      Report Post » Hobbs57  
    • booger71
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 10:47pm

      Hobbs57
      ===========
      I hope you didn’t actually let a little kid boss you around.

      Report Post » booger71  
    • Mil Mom
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 1:35am

      @mbck1491
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 7:37pm

      Don‘t forget it’s the Canadian School system where they don’t need parental consent since the school administrators are “co-parents”.
      ****
      And that differs from the American Public School System, HOW???

      Report Post » Mil Mom  
  • Grasshopper42
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 7:16pm

    Maybe his mentor and trainer, Richard Whitbread could be utilized to snap liberals out of their trance!

    Report Post » Grasshopper42  
    • starman70
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 7:31pm

      I don’t think he or anyone could EVER snap any liberal out of his/her trance. It is too deeply ingrained.
      By the way, where were the parents of these girls? Did they approve of having their children hypnotized or did the school administration just take it upon themselves to put on this display? I tell you one thing, If my daughter had been one of those who hypnotized and was in a trance for that extended period of time and I had not given permission to the school for her to participate in the activity, THERE WOULD BE HELL TO PAY!!!!

      Report Post »  
  • CatB
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 7:16pm

    @LITTLEQUEENIE

    Exactly .. those who are weak minded seem to be especially susceptible…. hence Obama VOTERS.

    Report Post »  
    • lukerw
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 7:38pm

      No, no… there is no such thing a weak minded. The Subject should have… a good imagination… better to be artistic… able to focus amid distractions… subject to Day Dreaming… not stressed… self assured… and positive.

      Report Post » lukerw  
    • lukerw
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 7:43pm

      Oh… and a good candidate should be able…. to roll their eyes toward the top of their head… as a test exercise (no one understands why this is important, but once hypnotized many do this)!

      Report Post » lukerw  
    • ModerationIsBest
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 8:19pm

      Religious people calling others weak minded.

      Purely laughable.

      Report Post »  
    • CatB
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 9:48pm

      The original post I was responding to was removed …. and yes . I believe in God and said that others are weak minded .. like those who can’t invision anything higher than themselves.

      Report Post »  
    • CatB
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 9:49pm

      The original post regarded how Obama’s candence and voice could be used as hypnosis. .. I guess someone didn’t like that.

      Report Post »  
    • ModerationIsBest
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 10:54pm

      @CATB

      It doesn’t matter what you can invision, it matters what is real.

      Besides, who said I can’t invision something higher then myself? I look at the universe and see how massive it is and am humbled by that notion. That is viewing something as greater then myself.

      You look at the universe and said, “God created this all for us, and he has a special plan for me.” That egomania defined.

      Do you believe in creationism?

      If so, then you believe that God created you the way you are, and that you aren’t evolved.

      It’s hilarious to me how Atheists are the ones called arrogant and egotistical when religion believes what it believes about itself. It’s pure lunacy and hypocritical.

      Report Post »  
    • Wolf
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 12:22am

      “I don’t know how to explain it. It‘s like you’re no longer there,” Émilie Bertrand said. “You’re spaced out.”

      Right on: typical democrat voters.

      Report Post »  
    • Mil Mom
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 1:43am

      @CatB
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 9:49pm

      The original post regarded how Obama’s candence and voice could be used as hypnosis. .. I guess someone didn’t like that.
      ***
      Cat,
      We must hide the truth at ALL costs! I‘ve long said that’s why he uses the 2 teleprompters with his head swaying side to side like a pocket watch. On the article a couple weeks ago about him being involved in the writing of his speeches, wasn’t there something about him needing a certain cadence or rhythm to fit in?

      Report Post » Mil Mom  
  • Broncobuster
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 7:15pm

    I can hypnotize a chicken .

    Report Post »  
  • ObserverOnTheHill
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 7:12pm

    People watching TV are hypnotized all the time. Look into the frequencies used to broadcast TV and how the brain is in sync with it.

    If you want to know how Obama hypnotized ( yes he hypnotized them ) people back in 2007-2008 see this info here – how he used NLP techniques and others to do so. Amazing stuff

    http://www.pennypresslv.com/Obama%27s_Use_of_Hidden_Hypnosis_techniques_in_His_Speeches.pdf

    Report Post »  
  • glockomatic
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 7:07pm

    “There were a couple of students who had their heads lying on the table and there were [others] who, you could tell, were in trance,” he said. “The eyes were open and there was nobody home.”

    Ah, must be Democrats.

    Report Post » glockomatic  
  • EZDOZIT
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 7:03pm

    People will turn the control of their mind over to a stranger,but would never give them control of their car?

    Report Post »  
  • IM4GOD
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:57pm

    I find the use of words uterly ridiculous. “ALARMINGLY AWRY” and “Girls were still SUFFERING the effects of …”
    Being in a hypnotic state is simply being in an extremely relaxed state of mind and body .. ya THAT is “alarming” and those poor girtls that were “suffering” from that super relaxed state should sue somebody. No One Should Feel That Good !!
    What a stupid story!

    Report Post »  
    • DogTags
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 7:09pm

      If you were really for God you would realize that allowing someone to rule your mind like a hypnotist does is forbidden. Hypnotism is akin to drunkenness. We must not allow ourselves to be placed in a position where we cannot control our faculties.

      (And, people, don’t try to equate hypnosis to sleeping. Hypnosis is about someone else controlling your actions while your mind is not aware of what you are doing. That is nothing like sleep.)

      Report Post »  
    • EddardinWinter
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 8:46pm

      Right Dog, cause being for God and pro hypnosis are 100% mutually exclusive. Being opposed to hypnosis is the only way to accept Christ’s gift.

      Report Post » EddardinWinter  
    • Mil Mom
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 1:51am

      @IM4GOD
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:57pm

      I find the use of words uterly ridiculous. “ALARMINGLY AWRY” and “Girls were still SUFFERING the effects of …”
      Being in a hypnotic state is simply being in an extremely relaxed state of mind and body .. ya THAT is “alarming” and those poor girtls that were “suffering” from that super relaxed state should sue somebody. No One Should Feel That Good !!
      What a stupid story!
      ***
      Yup! the girl laying suspended between the table and chair looks extremely relaxed!

      Report Post » Mil Mom  
    • DogTags
      Posted on June 18, 2012 at 2:52am

      Hypnosis is not a godly practice and people who have yielded to the sovereignty of God should not yield their minds to the suggestions of hypnotists.

      Report Post »  
  • beckwill
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:52pm

    I must admit that I too have been hypnotized by good looking 20-something year old guys too. Hehehehe.

    Report Post »  
    • newdaysos
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 8:33pm

      Me too Beckwill! And it took all the will I could muster to snap out of it. So much so that to this day I can’t be hypnotized. The hypnotist told me that it’s because I have “control issues”. Go figure.

      Report Post »  
    • rickc34
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 8:53pm

      Hey Beckwell and Newdaysos your guys aren’t you?

      Report Post »  
  • Bulletpoints
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:49pm

    This is how Obama got elected.

    Report Post »  
  • 50211bs
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:48pm

    Sorry, he’s already booked for the OWS and the BhuseinO campaigns. yes we can. yes we can. yes we can

    Report Post »  
  • Rip Curly
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:40pm

    Canadian chicks must really be into hypnosis. I see them walking around Old Orchard Beach, Maine acting as though string bikinis look great on overweight 50 somethings. “I am so hot….I am so hot….I am so hot” (en francais)

    Report Post »  
  • joyceram
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:33pm

    No one should ever hand over their free agency to a complete stranger. Hypnosis is a tool to be used only by professionals.

    Report Post »  
  • The-Monk
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:23pm

    Maxime Nadeau should visit the WH and not call her mentor until Nov 7.

    Report Post » The-Monk  
    • hypnos
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:30pm

      Sounds like a new cabinet position for the Obama administration. Dept of propaganda and hypnosis.

      Report Post » hypnos  
  • ChiefGeorge
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:19pm

    What next?

    Report Post » ChiefGeorge  
  • v15
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:14pm

    When Obama wins (or seizes power) in November, please call Mr. White Bread to hypnotize Obama into undoing all the mess he created over the past 3+ years.

    Report Post » v15  
    • loriann12
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:23pm

      They say you can‘t make someone do something under hypnosis that they wouldn’t normally do. So, since Obama WANTS to destroy America, you couldn’t make him save it.

      Report Post »  
    • rickc34
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 9:04pm

      Obama cannot be hypnotized he sold his soul to Soros aka Lucifer.

      Report Post »  
  • scuba13
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:14pm

    Big deal, liberals live their whole lives in a idiotic like trance. Just take a look at Encinom.

    Report Post » scuba13  
    • CatB
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:23pm

      Too true .. I have suspected that liberal events and websites have been doing this for years.

      Report Post »  
    • encinom
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:32pm

      Yeah, that coming from a brain dead tea ******. Sorry, I am not blinded by the lies of Fox News and Glenn Beck.

      Report Post »  
    • 50211bs
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:51pm

      He’s not in a trance, he is just naturally brain dead.

      Report Post »  
    • KickinBack
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:52pm

      They’re not hypnotized, their trained…For example, you mention Encinom and then…Voila! Here’s Encinom! Don’t forget now, you have to toss ‘em a biscuit for a reward afterwards…And for a really cool trick, watch what happens when yell SQUIRREL!

      Report Post » KickinBack  
    • 50211bs
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:54pm

      He’s not in a trance, he’s just natually brain dead

      Report Post »  
    • 50211bs
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:57pm

      He’s ot in a trance, he’s just naturally brain dead.

      Report Post »  
    • beckwill
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:58pm

      @encinom….yet you keep coming back for more. ((((deeper and deeper))))

      Report Post »  
    • booger71
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 10:52pm

      Sorry, I am not blinded by the lies of Fox News and Glenn Beck.
      ===========
      Just Ed Schultz huh?

      Report Post » booger71  
  • Baddoggy
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:09pm

    Why would anyone hand over your brain for someone to play with. I saw this performed many times in bars about 30 years ago. I saw one guy I knew to never be the same afterwards. Open the door to evil and you may kiss your own ideas goodbye.

    Report Post » Baddoggy  
  • lukerw
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 6:02pm

    Oh… French Girls are Easy… just put you finger between their eyes… and say “coucher”!

    Report Post » lukerw  
  • chips1
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 5:55pm

    “You wiil vote for Obama!!! You will vote for Oba….” WHAT? WHAT? Did someone say something? Is that you, Shabazz?

    Report Post »  
  • angelcat
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 5:53pm

    Why in the world would anyone with even half a brain in his/her head think hypnosis would be a good end of year activity? I’m no expert, but I know hypnosis is nothing to be used lightly or with those who many not be good candidates and especially not with young people when it serves no real purpose. I attended a teacher in- service once where a visualization exercise about dead loved ones occurred that caused some teachers to become hyterical, depressed, very upset. So many complained the district had to issue an apology – and these were adults!

    Report Post »  
  • AlcoholicMB
    Posted on June 17, 2012 at 5:49pm

    Oh please, hypnotists are a staple at proms and homecomings.

    Report Post » AlcoholicMB  
    • angelcat
      Posted on June 17, 2012 at 8:47pm

      That doesn‘t mean it isn’t dangerous. Messing with the minds of people you don’t know is NOT a good thing. These “entertaining” hypnotists can’t know what is the background of every person, what mental problems or traumatic experiences could make hypnotism a bad thing for them. There are other entertaining activities that don’t present the same dangers.

      Report Post »  

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