The Choking Game
Deadly Childs Play
Click Here to
view the WHIO-TV Investigation on the Choking Game
What Is The Choking Game?
The Choking Game is a life threatening activity that is circulating through teen and pre-teen culture. They use their hands, arms, ropes, leashes, chains, ties, shoestrings or belts around their necks or compress their chests to cut off the oxygen supply to their brains. Kids get a "high" when the pressure is released and blood rushes back to the brain. The sensations received can become very addictive!
Cutting off the oxygen to the brain is also known as ...
- Asphyxiation,
- Self-Asphyxiation or
- Hypoxia.How Do Children Play This Game?
By compressing the chest or squeezing the neck with hands or ligature devices such as ropes, cords or belts, children playing this "game" temporarily starve the brain of oxygen so as to induce a short lived artificial high. Most dangerous when done alone, the game is also played in groups and the sensations can become habit-forming. Children are reporting that they believe this game to be a "safe" way to seek a "high" as it does not involve taking drugs. This logic indicates that kids have no idea how dangerous this activity is and that they are unaware of the potentially deadly consequences.Who Plays The Game?
- Primarily kids, 9-15 years old
- Middle School kids- although not exclusively
- Kids as young as 6 or 7 especially if
they have older siblings playing this "game"
- High achievers not using drugs or alcohol
- Kids looking for a Thrill Seeking Activity
- Kids looking for a "Secret" Activity
What Other Names Does It Have?
- Airplaning
- American dream game
- Blackout game
- Choking game
- Dream game or dreaming game
- Fainting game
- Flat-line game or Flat-liner game
- Funky chicken
- Hyperventilation game
- Knockout game
- Pass-out game
- Rising sun game
- Space-cowboy or space-monkey
- Suffocation game or suffocation
- Roulette, teen-choking game
- Tingling game
Source: Teen Association, Inc. Newsletter (http://www.teenchokinggame.com/)
Why Do Children Participate?
- To achieve "high" without drugs or alcohol
- There is no intent to harm selves or others
- Unaware of dangerous consequences
- Curiosity/peer pressure
- Experimenting with bodies and feelings
- Considered "cool" and "risky"
What Are Signs My Child Is Playing?
Parents are also encouraged to watch for warning signs that indicate possible participation in this activity ...
- Unexplained marks or bruises on neck
- Short ropes, cords, belts, leashes, or
neck ties in odd knots or found in unusual locations
- Blood shot eyes
- Complaints of headaches
- Petechiae (tiny red dots) on face or cheeks
- Disorientation after spending time alone
- Unusual demands for privacy or locked
doors
- Chat room conversations about the game or websites visited
Why Is THIS Game Different?
Parents and other adults may remember engaging in this activity or experimenting with hyperventilation as children ... kids today are in more danger because:
Children are using ligature devices
AND
They are playing the game alone
How Can I Talk To My Child?
Treat discussion of this like that of any other high-risk behavior, like smoking, alcohol and drugs. For example, when talking about drugs, you could say, "Some kids think they can 'get high' without using drugs or alcohol by hyperventilating or putting pressure on their chest or neck. This can be just as dangerous and some kids have actually died doing it."
If you suspect your child of participating in this activity, engage them in an immediate discussion regarding the life-threatening dangers and consequences. If you think children are playing this game or have any questions, contact the Clark County Sheriff's Office Community Services Division at 937-521-2100 or your child’s D.A.R.E. officer at 937-521-2104.
How Can I Learn More?
www.deadlygameschildrenplay.com
Clark
County Sheriff's Office
120 North Fountain Ave.
Springfield Ohio, 45502-1119
(937)328-2560
Community Services/
D.A.R.E. Division
(937) 521-2100
(937) 521-2104
E-Mail our D.A.R.E. Deputies
SgtUnderwood@clarkcountysheriff.com
DeputyBrent@clarkcountysheriff.com
DeputyWaughtel@clarkcountysheriff.com
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