Maliya
Only a short while ago, Lexington High School once again had its annual Prevention Day. Prevention Day is a day when the students get an opportunity to get out of class to sit in on several informational seminars about drugs, alcohol, sex, health, job opportunities, and many other important aspects of life that we, as teens, are/will be facing. The presentations are given by other teens, professors, career specialists, and even former professional athletes. This year, however, was a bit different. Instead of going through the trouble to have everyone schedule their own preferred seminars, the students were given two lengthy presentations in the high school gymnasium. One presentation consisted of an educational film strip complete with interviews of actors/actresses, athletes, and teens, and many clips of hit movies and songs that are popular with the teens of today. The other presentation, though, was a bit more unique - something that many of the students here at Lexington High have never experienced as a live audience or participant.
At approximately 9:15 A.M. a few Tuesday mornings ago, all high school and junior high classes were escorted to the gymnasium for the first presentation of the Prevention Day of 1999. As we all walked in with our friends and took our seats, we saw two people (an elder man and woman) sitting at a table in the gym. There were about ten or so chairs set up in a straight line facing the bleachers, and facing the chairs were a row of blue and red spotlights set high up. The program started off with the lady, who began speaking to us about being teenagers and how we should be proud of ourselves and make wise decisions. I would have to admit that when she began singing "Proud to Be An American", though it was very good, I thought it was going to be another boring speech on do's and don'ts. However, she then soon introduced the man with her, a professor of psychology. He began explaining things about the human mind and then started talking about hypnosis. He said that he had been studying the process of hypnosis for quite some time and that he had performed it many times. Then it wasn't more than two minutes later that he was asking for volunteers from the faculty, senior and junior classes.
When the audience realized that these people would soon be in a deep stage of hypnosis, a low laughter arose as some of the volunteers went out on the floor. The students sat anxiously waiting to see what would happen as the professor explained the process of hypnosis and how the mind must be free and willing to be hypnotized. After a few minutes, the gym lights were turned off, and the blue and red spotlights were turned on as the man began the process of "putting them under". As he spoke to them, it was as if the students had slipped into another world. They instantly became relaxed, some more than others, and were in a complete daze. There were only one or two people who had trouble being hypnotized, and the professor explained that it was because they were most likely not willing to believe that they could be hypnotized. Once everyone was in a state of hypnosis, they were put to sleep as the professor kept talking to them, telling them what they were going to do.
Throughout the presentation, the audience was asked to keep as quiet as possible. However, at some times it was not possible to be quiet because we could not stop laughing at the things that the participants were doing. The professor had them doing many things that none of them would normally do. Some of these included using their shoes as a hair brush, a radio, and binoculars. When asked to put their shoes back on, they were all convinced that they were cross-eyed… Needless to say, several of them could not find their own feet, and afterwards wondered why they were only wearing one shoe. Also part of the program was a performance by a teacher who thought he was Elvis Presley, accompanied by students playing guitar, drums, keyboards, and string-bass. Later that day, the teacher stated that he remembered nothing except hearing music. Also in the program was a wonderful example of how the human mind can be tricked into thinking something is much heavier than it really is. One student was convinced that he was the strongest man in the world and could lift anything. However when he was asked to pick up a butter knife (which he was told was an extremely heavy barbell), it would not budge from the floor. Throughout the program, the participants were made to do many other things such as laugh hysterically at a movie that no one else could see but them, feel that they were being pinched or shocked with 450 volts of electricity, and picture everyone in the audience, including the principle, in string-bikinis. At the end of the show, the participants were sent back to their seats, but were still under hypnosis and were not aware of it. Whenever the professor would say a certain word, one of them would stand up and say a certain thing out loud or do something completely outlandish. For example, one of the football players from Lexington High got up in front of the crowd, thinking that he was the worlds greatest ballerina, and did a magnificent ballet performance. However, in the middle of one of his cartwheels he was told that he was normal, and was very embarrassed to find himself dancing in front of his fellow students.
Later in the day, when asked about the program, many of the students had no idea what anyone was talking about. Some of the participants told us that they didn't remember a thing about it, and others remembered little bits and pieces, but the rest was blank. Then there were some that said that they knew exactly what they were doing, but it was as if they couldn't stop themselves from going on. Hypnosis is something that, as the professor described, cannot be done unless the participant is completely willing and totally relaxed at the same time. If the participant is distracted, it is very hard for that person to continue to be hypnotized. We were also told that it is easier to hypnotize highly intelligent people rather than people of lower intelligence. Also, another interesting fact is that one hour of deep hypnosis is equal to about eight to ten hours of deep sleep. The professor explained that after the hypnosis was over, the participants should feel greatly refreshed and well awake.
The process of hypnosis is an absolutely amazing thing. The reason why this program came to us is because they wanted to show us that the human mind under hypnosis is very similar to the human mind under the influence of drugs or alcohol - completely out of control. It was as if the professor was the drug, and he was controlling the minds of the students and teachers under hypnosis. No matter what they did, they could not do anything other than what their controller was telling them to do. So if you were under the influence of drugs or alcohol, would you be able to take control over it? I don't think so. So make the right decisions - just say no.
*The process of self-hypnosis can be extremely dangerous if you do not know what you are doing. Do not try it unless you have experience or seek a professional first.
