ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, May 28 2015 – A group of students attending Jennings Secondary School (JSS) who were allegedly playing the “demonic” Charlie Charlie Challenge were rushed to hospital after they fainted on Wednesday.
The emergency medical services were kept busy yesterday morning as they made several trips between the hospital and the school just after the morning break.
Earlier in the day, school administrators sent home five students who were caught playing the Charlie Charlie Challenge in class.
After students heard that the game was being played on the premises some of them became scared and that’s when the fainting began, several witnesses said.
Classes ended early at JSS which has a history of mysterious illnesses affecting students.
“Children started fainting and having seizures. Children were fainting while walking home, and some of them were trying to jump out the bus,” one of them said.
Principal Foster Roberts and Ministry of Education officials could not be reached for comment.
On Tuesday, religious leaders Bishop Charlesworth Browne and Apostile A D Ditzen appealed to residents not to entertain the game which they described as evil and demonic.
Browne said the challenge could open the doors for players to be possessed by demonic spirits.
The game involves players balancing pencils over the words “yes” and “no” which are written on a piece of paper. Players ask questions which are supposedly answered by Charlie — a mysterious demon who spookily moves the pencils.
Although the origin of the game is not known, it has already infiltrated local schools and is popular on social media.
Its introduction here has led to a firestorm of reaction on the Internet both from those who support calls for it to be avoided and from those who dismiss it as science. (ANTIGUA OBSERVER)
