It is most commonly played by kids from between 9 to 16 and it’s more common in guys. The ‘game’ is pretty simple and there are many different methods of how to play. Some will use a scarf, rope, etc., others will use their own hands, some will even use another persons hands. Players start choking their selves or let another person choke them until they become unconscious. It gives the player an effect similar to a high which actually is just a pleasurable sensation of the blood flow and oxygen to the brain being cut of which makes them pass out. When they finally become conscious again they get a sudden rush of blood back to their head. You get two sensations out of one activity. Sound like fun? Think again!
Mark and his sister, Kelly
On March 30, 2009 Kevin Tork died at the age of 15 from playing ‘the choking game’. He was found by his little 11 year old sister laying in his bedroom unconscious. Kevin’s parents say he was a nice and generous kid. He usually did what he was told to and he was very happy, he always had a big smile on his face. “I would never guess he was doing anything like this”, said Kathy Tork, Kevin’s mom. What really upset Kevin’s parents was the fact that Ken, Kevin’s dad, had seen a report on the television recently before the accident. Ken had a discussion with his son about the dangers of the game and he made Kevin swear he would never do anything like it. Kevin told his dad that he promised he wouldn’t ever do anything that dangerous and stupid.
YouTube, along with many other sites and some parties, was a main source for instructions on how to play the ‘choking game’. It shows kids exactly how to play and how simple it is. It even shows many people playing themselves and how great they feel from it. This gives every kid the misleading that it is nothing but pure fun and can’t harm you whatsoever. This is a complete lie though, over 400 kids have died from this each year. Consequences of the activity include: concussions and bruising, brain damage, stroke, seizures, broken bones, memory loss, and more often death. None of that sound really fun to me. To me, this addiction sounds just as bad as drugs and alcohol! I think any kid is really stupid to even try this.
Over 400 kids have died from playing the choking game
Kevin’s parents didn’t notice any signs of him playing. Parents need to realize the signs and try to stop the activity from happening before it’s too late. Some of the warning signs for every parent to look for include: marks and bruises on the neck of the child, also blood spots on the eyes and face, even neck ties and collars with leashes inside of a child’s closet. If a child is playing the game they may demand long periods of time alone in their bedroom. After they perform the game they could also have slurred speech, be slow to respond, and complain of major headaches. Some code names of this activity are airplaning, black hole, suffocation roulette, tingling game, knock-out game, purple hazing, gasp game, funky chicken, flat lining, the scarf game, cloud nine, dream game, space cowboy, and space monkey.
Sources: MSNBC and Google Images
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