I don't know who the principle in this story are but I can say categorically that this is complete and utter nonsense. No, I don't mean the veracity of the story . . . I have faith that the news is indeed being reported accurately, or at least fairly so, in this case. I mean the mere idea that this is in any way an appropriate way to school children in confidence.
The story has been picked up by a slew of outlets and evidently parents are calling foul after they paid a bucket of money to send their kids to a bushiban (cram school) to become more confident and then find out that the "hypnotist" in charge of the program is having them break boards with their bear hands, walk on broken glass, and eat fire to build their confidence.
Here are some news links for those who haven't seen 'em . . . Taiwan Pupils Made to Eat Fire . . . Probe Underway after School Children Ordered to Eat Fire and Walk on Glass . . . Probe After Students Eat Fire . . . and more.
The folks at the Mai-teh International Intelligence Research Institute (what a five-dollar name for a two-dollar bushiban!) advertised that they had a program that would increase the confidence and success of school children . . . a program that would be difficult but that those with strong hearts would pass and move on to greater success in school and life.
It seems that someone's taken a course from Marshall Sylver and taken a page from his business model and perhaps thrown in a bit of Taiwanese vagabond Taoist or qigong spellcasters to create a program aimed at children with material that is completely and totally inappropriate for kids. Heck, this stuff has a lot less to do with hypnosis than advertised too.
Sure, doing this stuff can temporarily increase confidence in some people but if you're a hypnotist you damned well ought to know a hundred more effective and more long lasting ways.
Evidently, some of the kids were scared out of their wits and the teachers forced the burning sticks into their mouths. Sorry, that ain't education, that ain't hypnosis, that's child abuse pure and simple.
Honestly, I don't care if the program guides claim that all was done safely . . . it doesn't matter if it's normally safe to do the things they were forcing those kids to do . . . the kids should never have been placed in that situation in the first place.
Parents really should have done a bit more research into the program . . . but they are not the ones to chiefly blame here. This sort of program should never be offered to children, period. Heck, I'm of the very strong opinion that most programs that use these sorts of gimmicks are doing so in an extremely unethical or at least ineffective manner but at least adults who go to firewalks know that's what they're going to.
Now, I'm no prude in so far as inviting a hypnotist into the classroom or to help kids, in fact I am all for it . . . but, the Mai-teh program has nothing to do with genuine hypnosis.
I am a professionally trained hypnotist and I have been a professional educator for over a quarter of a decade . . . and I've taught courses for teachers on how to use trancework effectively and ethically. I've even done special workshops at schools (such as the Inspiring Creativity in the Classroom program we offer which combines improvisational theatre games with guided imagery and suggestion work – you can find video and photos from a session I conducted with a class at Taipei First Girls High School here), but there are processes and techniques and methods that are inappropriate for younger folks and even if you're doing something appropriate, I strongly suggest that you have explicit parental permission first (when I've done trancework workshops for secondary schools, I've asked teachers to ensure that all of the kids who participate have parental permission slips that explicitly give permission for their child to participate in trance activities).
Obviously, the parents who sent their kids to the Mai-teh program were not given the opportunity to provide fully informed consent (there is a huge difference between signing a permission form that says "confidence building activities" and "eat fire, walk on glass, break boards" and the like).
Of course, one really shouldn't compare the Mai-teh program with one that uses legitimate genuine hypnosis or trancework techniques. The news stories are focusing on what are essentially sensational stunts that have nothing to do with hypnosis, whether or not the guide is a self-styled hypnosis master or not.
Grrrrr.
All the best,
Brian
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Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH [brian@briandavidphillips.com]
Hypnotist, Hypnotherapist, Intuitionist, Trance Wizard
President, Society of Experiential Trance
Associate Professor, NCCU, Taipei, Taiwan
