Full Description
This book comprehensively surveys the colorful history of mass hysteria and kindred phenomena in schools, documenting outbreaks of demonic possession during witchcraft scares, to modern incidents of collapsing bands, itching frenzies, ghost panics and mystery illnesses.
Strange behaviors and illnesses in students are examined through the centuries. Possessed children went into trance states and began to bark like dogs in 16th and 17th century Holland; an epidemic of twitching, trembling and blackout spells swept through European schools during the latter 1800s; an outbreak of Tourette's-like symptoms struck schoolgirls in western New York in 2011-12. In addition to the US and Europe, separate chapters detail accounts from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania. A variety of theories to explain outbreaks are examined.
Contents
Table of Contents
Foreword by Glenn Dawes
Introduction
1. Witch Hunts and Schoolchildren
2. Twitching Epidemics and Pregnancy Panics: Historic Tales from Europe and America
3. Fear 101—Fates Worse Than Homework: Modern Tales from East and West
4. The Demon-Haunted Classroom: Tales from Asia
5. The Students Who Laughed for a Week: Accounts from Africa
6. The Meowing Schoolgirls of Fiji: Accounts from the Islands
7. Strange Tales from Latin America
8. Strange Schoolyards and Unusual Field Trips: Cases from Beyond the Classroom
9. Global Lessons
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
