@@ Deadly 'Choking Game' becoming popular with American kids @@
- From: "Arash" <A7000@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2005 07:05:52 -0500
San Antonio Express
November 30, 2005
Deadly 'Choking Game' Becoming Popular With Kids
By Melissa Ludwig
San Antonio, Texas -- Students at San Antonio's Alamo Heights Junior School
(http://www.ahisd.net/campuses/ahjs/index.htm) were caught playing the "choking
game", according to a note sent home to parents.
The game's goal is a fleeting "high" that follows a lack of oxygen to the brain and
has teens throttling themselves with belts and ropes, choking each other with bare
hands or pulling plastic bags over their heads until they nearly pass out.
Also called "space monkey" and "flatline", the activity reportedly has killed at
least five children in four states since September and has garnered widespread media
attention.
Kevin Brown, a spokesman for the Alamo Heights School District, said a student
alerted Principal Stephanie Kershner
(http://www.ahisd.net/campuses/ahjs/contacts/kershner.htm) recently that a small
group of kids was outside the school choking one another.
Kevin Brown said none of the students was injured. They were punished with in-school
suspensions, he said.
Stephanie Kershner sent an email and letter to parents to alert them to the game,
Brown said.
Stephanie Kershner attached a July report by CBS News detailing the death of a
California boy, Gabriel Mordecai, whose 13-year-old twin brother found him sitting on
the ground with a rope around his neck.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/07/28/earlyshow/main712411.shtml
The article lists warning signs such as marks around the neck, headaches and
bloodshot eyes.
The mother of a seventh-grader involved in the Alamo Heights incident said her child
and a neighbor's child had recently told her they were getting high by
hyperventilating and having someone press down on their chests to produce the
sensation of getting the wind knocked out of them.
The woman said she read news reports about the game, but found only mentions of
belts, ropes and plastic bags rather than the version her child reported playing.
"It's a variation that is much more insidious", she said. "It is not readily evident
to the kids that this is a stupid thing to do. Most of these kids would not have gone
and wrapped something around their necks. But I could see a kid having read that
article and not seeing what they were doing was the same thing".
All forms of the choking game are risky, said Dr. Stephen Carter, a San Antonio
physician.
Cutting off the oxygen supply can cause brain damage, heart dysfunction and even
death, Carter said.
Children do it for a lightheaded feeling that lasts a few minutes, he said. They
often black out or become disoriented. Blood vessels hemorrhage in the whites of
their eyes and their parents bring them to the doctor complaining about headaches, he
said.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1244/5750955.html
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