Eyeball Licking Phenomenon Sweeping Japan

Eyeball licking or ‘Worming’ is the latest craze among Japanese teenagers and kids. The technical term for this weird practice is Oculolinctus and involved holding ones eye open while another person licks it.

The Inquisitr.com reported recently that the eyeball licking phenomenon sweeping Japan has had doctors worried, raising health concerns. Truthdive.com reports that eyeball licking can have some serious consequences.

Dr. Robert Cykiert from the department of ophthalmology at the New York University Langone Medical Center, confirms that: “The surface of a healthy eye is normal mostly sterile, while the mouth is filled with bacteria and food particles”. Dr Cykiert continues “”When you get licked on the eye, you’re transferring dangerous bacteria to the eye. It’s a very dangerous trend, to say the least.”

A teacher from a school in Japan spoke to online news agencies discussing an actual incident of eyeball licking which he encountered: “After class one day, I went into the equipment store in the gymnasium to tidy up. The door had been left open, and when I looked inside, a male pupil and a female pupil had their faces close together and were kind of fumbling around. Could it be bullying? I wondered, but when I had a good look, the boy was licking the girl’s eye!”

Eye patches are the tell tale sign that students have be engaging in the practice of eyeball licking. One teacher reported that he saw up to 10 students at any one time sporting the patches. Wearing the eye patches hides ailments and eye complaints caused by the dangerous practice.

http://youtu.be/9oD5esfiR08

There is no consensus yet among teachers and educational staff in Japan as to how best deal with this phenomenon. What measures can be taken, if any to curtail this kind of behavior in schools? Is there anything that can be done to stop it or at least to warn the youth about the potential health hazards involved ?