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Kathua students showing strange behaviour baffle authorities

Kashmir Times. Dated: 6/21/2019 2:04:08 AM

JAMMU, Jun 20 (Agencies): Students at a far-flung school in Kathua district have been exhibiting inexplicably strange behaviour such as rolling on the floor that has baffled both teachers and parents.
Kewal Krishan, headmaster of a government high school in Sitti village of Bani tehsil told agencies, “It all started about a month back. Two students in class 1 said they were feeling dizzy. After a while they started weeping and crying. We immediately shifted them out of the classroom and brought them into the office. Instead of getting any better, they started rolling on the floor.”
The headmaster said after a few days the same behaviour was exhibited by three girls of class 9.
“This put us on the alert. We called their parents who said two of these girls had suffered similar attacks a few times at home, but the parents of the third girl were shocked to learn about the behaviour of their child. On June 13, things started getting out of hand as 20 to 25 students, both boys and girls of 9th and 10th class displayed same symptoms in the classroom. On June 14, the number of students showing same symptoms of headache, weeping, crying and then rolling on the floor went up to 50,” he stated.
“We reported these incidents to senior officers after which the local SDM visited the school along with a team of doctors from Bani hospital. They prescribed some medicines for the affected children, but this did not help as the students again showed the same behaviour. In the meantime, some videos started doing the rounds on local Whatsapp groups about the students showing inexplicable symptoms. The chief educational officer sent a team of doctors who said that they did not find any medical reasons for the behaviour attributed to the children," the headmaster said.
He said an administrative officer who came to the village also happens to be a doctor.
“He met the affected students. He told us that it was not unusual for children to imitate behavioural symptoms of each other. He also said it is quite possible the affected students are not doing well academically and they have consciously or subconsciously adopted symptoms as excuses for their parents to withdraw them from the school,” the headmaster told.
He said wild rumours are doing the rounds in the village that some a “tantric” book has found its way into the village that might have been read by these students.
“Unless we have enough medical evidence and remedy available for the strange behaviour of our students it is natural for rumour mongers to spread fear among the villagers in such a far-flung area,” the headmaster said. He denied that any psychologist had so far visited the school who attributed the behaviour of the students to mass hysteria.
A shocking video of over three dozen students, mostly girls, crying inconsolably together without any apparent reason in their classroom baffled Jammu and Kashmir education authorities, prompting them to provide psychological counselling to children.
The authorities swung into action soon after the video related to the last week incident occurring on two consecutive days, 13 and 14 June, at a school in Kathua near Jammu went viral. Nearly three dozen students, mostly girls, of the government high school at Bani in Kathua could be seen in the short video clip lying on the floor and crying inconsolably as their teachers try to console them.
On 13 June, the impact was less but on the next day soon after the morning assembly was over and the children were heading for their classes, such behaviour was witnessed," Kathua Chief Education Officer Prem Nath told agencies.
The officer said he immediately deputed teams from nearby schools and the concerned sub-divisional magistrate and tehsildar along with a medical team and an ambulance was rushed to the school.
The medical team examined the children but found no health problem with them. “We also contacted children's parents and were informed that some of them have shown similar behaviour at their homes,” he said, adding there was nothing wrong since then in the school and the children are attending their classes as usual.
He said a two-member 'guidance and counselling' team was deputed to the school on Thursday morning for the benefit of the children and to avoid mass hysteria.
“The team will continue its counselling in future as well,” he said, adding the principal of the school was directed to immediately call the parents if any student repeats such behaviour in future.