Most parents are well aware of the dangers of drugs and alcohol for their teenagers but kids are looking to engage in new dangerous behaviors under the nose of unsuspecting parents. One current trend, popular especially among middle and high school aged kids, is called the “choking game,” which entails cutting off the oxygen supply to the brain in order to achieve a feeling of euphoria – a high.
One may go about it by two methods: strangulation, or self-induced hypocapnia (low levels of carbon dioxide in the blood). In the first, pressure is applied to the neck, using a belt, rope or even bare hands or arms, and blood supply is temporarily stopped, causing a blackout. The latter involves intentional hyperventilation and breath holding until tingling, numbness, giddiness and dizziness occur. Some teens repetitively engage in the act for numerous hours a day, several days a week.
A fifth grader at Greenbrook Elementary recounted seeing two boys playing the choking game at school when she was in fourth grade. “They’d choke each other until they felt the tingles, then they’d stop,” she said. The girl told her mother about the incident, mentioning some of the game’s aliases, including Sky High, Flying and The Tingles. “I was surprised she even knew what it was,” said the girl’s mother. “She knew before I did.”
Nationwide news reports and magazines have exposed cases of accidental death or injury that resulted from playing the choking game. A February 2006 Reader’s Digest article revealed that more than 1,000 kids accidentally kill themselves playing each year. Just last month, a 15-year-old Santa Rosa girl accidentally strangled herself to death, naively playing the game. Experts say that a remarkable one-third of supposed suicides from strangulation are really the result of the choking game gone wrong. Controversy still remains over the 1997 death of Michael Hutchence, lead singer of the band INXS, who was found dead in his hotel room. Although initially ruled a suicide, many speculate his death was the result of self-asphyxiation.
Though many times it is done alone, the choking game is also a popular source of entertainment within group settings, whether it is a dare or one friend doing it to a willing participant. A local high school student, who requested anonymity, said she learned to play as a freshman from girls on her soccer team. “About seven of the 10 girls there had tried it,” she remarked. “One person would hold the other by the neck and press them against the wall until they blacked out.”
So why is this “game” so enticing to teenagers? It offers its “players” an easy and inexpensive way to get high without the guilt of doing something illegal.
“We wanted to know what it would do,” said the teen. “Some girls told me, ‘You’ll dream about your deepest desires.’ It was about exploring the unknown.” The fact that it is virtually unknown in the world of adults is intriguing to teenagers and provides security they won’t get caught. One can do it without a trace.
There are indications folks can watch for: bruising or red marks on the neck, unusually placed bed sheets, belts, ropes, etc., tied in knots, headaches, grogginess, bloodshot eyes, aggressive behavior and excessive want for privacy.
The game is also known by other names: The Fainting Game, Airplaning, America Dream Game, Blackout Game, Breath Play, California Choke, California Dreaming, Funky Chicken, Knockout Game, Pass-out Game, Space Monkey, Suffocation Roulette, High Riser, Tingling Game, Trip to Heaven and a Rocket Ride.
“They have these parent ed nights, and I really think this is something that needs to be addressed,” said the fifth-grade mother mentioned above. It is important that parents are aware of such a universal affair that hits so close to home. In every generation, kids want to do something that will separate them from the generation before them. They want to come up with something new their parents can’t relate to. For now, it is the choking game.
The 411 offers information and insight on the teen scene by Katharine O’Hara, a junior at San Ramon Valley High School who spends her free time going to concerts, enjoying her friends, and playing the piano.
