In what’s called the “choking game,” kids try to cut off the oxygen and blood supply to the brain, causing lightheadedness and a quick high. They use a belt, a rope, or their bare hands to get that high.
But it has fatal consequences – last week, Garrett Pope Jr., an 11-year-old South Carolina boy who had just started sixth grade, was found dead in his bedroom. The local coroner said Garrett’s death was due to accidental asphyxiation, local newspapers reported.
“He took this terrible ‘game’ too far,” the boy’s father, Garrett Pope Sr., wrote on Facebook.
“My family has never felt pain like this before, and we don’t want anyone else to go through what we are going through…[Garrett] was so young and impressionable, he didn’t know what he was doing, and made a terrible mistake,” he wrote.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1629414180660214/permalink/1767980346803596/
His wife, Stacy Pope, urged parents to make sure their kids understand this is a dangerous game.
“If you talk to your kids and they say they don’t know about it, don’t stop there. You educate them on what it is. It’s not a game and it can kill you,” she told local papers.
What is the choking game?
The choking game has many monikers: the passout game, fainting game, or even the blackout game.
“Adolescents cut off the flow of blood to the brain in exchange for a few seconds of feeling lightheaded. Some strangle themselves … others push on their chest or hyperventilate,” an organization called GASP – or Games Adolescents Shouldn’t Play – explained on its website.
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“When they release the pressure, blood that was blocked up floods the brain all at once. This sets off a warm and fuzzy feeling, which is just the brain dying, thousands of cells at a time,” it read.
GASP is led by an Ontario mom, Sharron Grant, whose son Jesse died in 2005. Jesse had choked on a computer cord after he learned about the game at a summer camp.
Not only is accidental death a concern, kids could face brain damage, broken bones and other severe injuries.
How prevalent is the choking game?
In 2008, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published its first report documenting the rise of the choking game.
In a 12-year timeframe leading up to 2007, 82 kids died from accidental asphyxiation. Most of the deaths were boys (about 87 per cent) and the riskiest age group was between 11 and 16 years old.
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The CDC reported that the majority of the deaths took place when the kids were playing alone.
The numbers could be higher, though. How deaths are categorized is the tricky part.
In Canada, a Centre for Addiction and Mental Health study in 2008 found that about seven per cent of Ontario students from Grades 7 to 12 had tried the choking game, according to a report.
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The Public Health Agency of Canada counted 88 non-fatal injuries from the game between 1990 and 2009.
Health Canada told Global News this week that it hasn’t had a record of a death tied to the game as reported to the Canadian Hospital Injury Reporting and Prevention Program. Media reports point to several tragedies as parents share their cautionary tales.
Here’s a list of warning signs parents should pay attention to:
- Suspicious marks on the side of the neck, sometimes hidden by a turtleneck, scarf or permanently turned-up collar
- Changes in personality, such as overtly aggressive or agitated
- Any kind of strap, rope or belt lying around near the child for no clear reason – and attempts to elude questions about such objects
- Headaches – sometimes excruciatingly bad ones – loss of concentration, flushed face
- Bloodshot eyes or any other noticeable signs of eye stress
- Any questions about the effects, sensations or dangers of strangulation
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
Follow @Carmen_Chai
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