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A principal running hypnosis sessions for kids sounds like a quirky school story until the timeline turns grim. We’re Pearl and Holly, and we’re unpacking the George Kenney case out of Northport High School in Florida, where hypnosis meant for test anxiety, confidence, and athletic performance collides with tragedy and unanswered questions.

We walk through what’s known about Kenney’s “helpful” approach, how students describe the sessions, and why the details matter: unlicensed therapeutic hypnosis, minimal training, and private one-on-one time with teenagers. Then we lay out the three deaths that made national headlines. Marcus Freeman, a 16-year-old quarterback, dies in a crash after appearing frozen and trance-like behind the wheel. Wesley McKinley dies by suicide with Kenney acknowledging he hypnotized him the day before. Brittany Palumbo, stressed about SAT scores and school pressure, also dies by suicide, leaving friends and family asking what changed.

From there, we get into the uncomfortable but necessary conversation about suggestibility, adolescent brain development, and “power of suggestion” tactics that can drift from harmless pranks into manipulation. We also cover the legal aftermath, school district responsibility, and what mental health professionals say about whether hypnosis can trigger or worsen underlying anxiety, depression, or other dormant issues.

If you care about true crime podcasts, teen mental health, school safety, and ethical boundaries for authority figures, you’ll have a lot to think about here. Listen, then share your take with us, and if you’ve ever been hypnotized, email your story. Subscribe, leave a review, and send this to a friend who loves cases that live in the gray areas.