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I just saw this story on our local news. Anyone have experiences with this...such as deaths, or calls for assistance?
Now i KNOW i'm OLD... I have heard about this during masturbation, or during sex between couples...which is bad enough, but now kids are choking themselves as a game, and often alone. ???
I cant imagine that the quest to get high is that bad now. There is so much fun, great stuff for kids to be doing nowadays. I cant imagine wanting to choke myself for fun...EVER...
**Teens Playing Suffocation Roulette With Choking Game**
Death More Common Among Kids Who Attempt Game Alone
POSTED: 2:50 pm EDT September 19, 2005
UPDATED: 10:57 pm EDT September 19, 2005
PHILADELPHIA -- There is a new addiction that children can easily hide from their parents -- it is known as the choking game.
Experts say that children who play the choking game are not usually troubled, and that is what troubles parents.
Those who try it say that it is a high without drugs, but they are playing suffocation roulette.
Kimberly Wilson, 15, used a bicycle chain lock. Her mother found her.
Gabriel Mordecai, 13, used a rope in his closet. His twin brother, Sam, found him.
Chelsea Dunn, 13, used a belt inside her bedroom closet.
"She was taken because she chose to do something really stupid, and it angers me," Chelsea's mother said.
These teens, and others as young as 9, have all died playing the choking game. Ask almost any middle-school student and they have probably heard about it.
"My friend was telling me that she was with people who did it and I don't know if she tried it or not, but they had fun doing it. It was like a game," one child said.
"Instead of drugs -- to get a rush or something," another child said.
"It's different. Everybody wants to try something different. Everyone's got a little Curious George in them," said Zach Davis, 15.
The game has many names, such as pass out, dream game, blackout and flatliner, but the goal is always the same -- cut off your oxygen until you pass out. That is the first high -- death's door. Then comes the second high, when oxygen rushes back to your brain.
A rush is what children seem to want. Some crave it so badly that many are playing the game alone using things that could be found around the house like bed sheets, dog leashes, belts and shoestrings. Whatever they're using, the results can be fatal.
"If you cross that fine line where your brain is requesting oxygen, you're dead," aid Dr. Ashish Sinha, an anesthesiologist at the Hospital for the University of Philadelphia.
Three minutes is all takes to do irreversible damage, Sinha said. Cutting off oxygen for that long can affect memory, balance and the central nervous system. Sinha used NBC 10 reporter Laurie Delgado's hand to show her how quickly oxygen can be cut off to the brain.
"You realize your palm is turning white and getting cool. Watch it turn pink when I let go," Sinha said to Delgado.
Frank Farley, a psychologist at Temple University, said that most of the children who play the game are "typical kids" just acting impulsively.
"You get talking about it, or something, and then, well, they're like, 'Let's try that,' and the assumption is you're not going to kill yourself," Farley said.
The parents of Kimberly, Gabriel and Chelsea all now know that their children played the choking game dozens of times before it killed them.
Experts say it is an easy addiction to hide.
"You check their eyes and you make sure they're not on drugs and you see other signs, but how would I ever see that sign?" said Kathy Davis, Zach Davis' mother.
"The consequences are horrible. I guess if more people knew the consequences, more people thought about it before they did it, it wouldn't be as much of a problem as it has become," Zach Davis said.
Here are some of the clues to look for that would indicate your child might be experimenting with the choking game.
Bloodshot eyes
Unusual marks on neck
Belts and ropes with unusual knots found in your child's bedroom and tied to furniture
Now i KNOW i'm OLD... I have heard about this during masturbation, or during sex between couples...which is bad enough, but now kids are choking themselves as a game, and often alone. ???
I cant imagine that the quest to get high is that bad now. There is so much fun, great stuff for kids to be doing nowadays. I cant imagine wanting to choke myself for fun...EVER...
**Teens Playing Suffocation Roulette With Choking Game**
Death More Common Among Kids Who Attempt Game Alone
POSTED: 2:50 pm EDT September 19, 2005
UPDATED: 10:57 pm EDT September 19, 2005
PHILADELPHIA -- There is a new addiction that children can easily hide from their parents -- it is known as the choking game.
Experts say that children who play the choking game are not usually troubled, and that is what troubles parents.
Those who try it say that it is a high without drugs, but they are playing suffocation roulette.
Kimberly Wilson, 15, used a bicycle chain lock. Her mother found her.
Gabriel Mordecai, 13, used a rope in his closet. His twin brother, Sam, found him.
Chelsea Dunn, 13, used a belt inside her bedroom closet.
"She was taken because she chose to do something really stupid, and it angers me," Chelsea's mother said.
These teens, and others as young as 9, have all died playing the choking game. Ask almost any middle-school student and they have probably heard about it.
"My friend was telling me that she was with people who did it and I don't know if she tried it or not, but they had fun doing it. It was like a game," one child said.
"Instead of drugs -- to get a rush or something," another child said.
"It's different. Everybody wants to try something different. Everyone's got a little Curious George in them," said Zach Davis, 15.
The game has many names, such as pass out, dream game, blackout and flatliner, but the goal is always the same -- cut off your oxygen until you pass out. That is the first high -- death's door. Then comes the second high, when oxygen rushes back to your brain.
A rush is what children seem to want. Some crave it so badly that many are playing the game alone using things that could be found around the house like bed sheets, dog leashes, belts and shoestrings. Whatever they're using, the results can be fatal.
"If you cross that fine line where your brain is requesting oxygen, you're dead," aid Dr. Ashish Sinha, an anesthesiologist at the Hospital for the University of Philadelphia.
Three minutes is all takes to do irreversible damage, Sinha said. Cutting off oxygen for that long can affect memory, balance and the central nervous system. Sinha used NBC 10 reporter Laurie Delgado's hand to show her how quickly oxygen can be cut off to the brain.
"You realize your palm is turning white and getting cool. Watch it turn pink when I let go," Sinha said to Delgado.
Frank Farley, a psychologist at Temple University, said that most of the children who play the game are "typical kids" just acting impulsively.
"You get talking about it, or something, and then, well, they're like, 'Let's try that,' and the assumption is you're not going to kill yourself," Farley said.
The parents of Kimberly, Gabriel and Chelsea all now know that their children played the choking game dozens of times before it killed them.
Experts say it is an easy addiction to hide.
"You check their eyes and you make sure they're not on drugs and you see other signs, but how would I ever see that sign?" said Kathy Davis, Zach Davis' mother.
"The consequences are horrible. I guess if more people knew the consequences, more people thought about it before they did it, it wouldn't be as much of a problem as it has become," Zach Davis said.
Here are some of the clues to look for that would indicate your child might be experimenting with the choking game.
Bloodshot eyes
Unusual marks on neck
Belts and ropes with unusual knots found in your child's bedroom and tied to furniture
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