DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: I just read about the boy who died playing the choking game. This really scares me because my sister and some of her friends sometimes do it in our room. I showed her the article and told her she must stop. She just laughed me off saying they always do it with someone else, while this boy was doing it alone, so it’s totally different. We don’t get along, so when I started crying at the thought of losing her, she called me a crybaby and said she’d be happy to be rid of me, so why would I care about losing her. That really hurt. She said if I tell our mom she’ll make it hell for me — and she will. Even so, I’d never forgive myself if I stayed silent and something terrible happened. Please help. — Worried Sister, Sacramento, Calif.
Editor’s Note: I used to think the press was capitalizing on the sensationalism of the “choking game” but in the last couple of years, its prevalence has increased significantly. Every generation of kids has noticed that you can cut off blood supply to the brain and get a rush, but this generation has taken it to another level. If you know someone who is engaging in a strangulation activity, inform a responsible adult immediately. Brain damage from it is real and, even without seizures (i.e. twitching), stroke, or death, the more a kid does it, the dumber he or she becomes. For more information watch the video linked above or go to http://chokinggame.net/index.html —Lauren
Comments
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To Worried Sister:
You must tell your parents immediately! My sister was doing the choking game in our room and even though I knew it was dangerous, I didn’t want to “rat” on her. She thought she could do it safely alone but passed out. Thank God I came into our room in time and untied the cord, but she was still unconscious and had to be taken to the ER. She was revived and survived. However, the neurologist who evaluated her said that she may have some permanent brain damage and is going to have to be further tested and monitored. Now both of us are grounded to our room most of the time. Her for doing it and me for knowing about it and not telling. In hindsight I realize that I should have told them, but I’m really not sure that I deserve the same punishment for not telling when she asked me not to. I keep having nightmares of not finding her until it’s too late. I used to really want my own room, but now I’m just grateful to still have a sister who is alive who I can share a room with.
Anybody who has a family member or friend who plays the “choking game” needs to tell someone who can do something about it. I’ll never understand why it’s called a game. It is anything but a game.
Shelly
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My stepsister who I have to share a room with on visitations and her best friend do the choking game. They don’t like me and are always putting me down. I’m overweight and they even put me down for how my body looks when I’m undressed and even naked which is very humiliating. Therefore, I figured that it’s their problem if something happens to them from doing the choking game. And if I tell on them, they’ll be very mad at me and make things even worse for me. However, I’m starting to have second thoughts after reading this and other things I have read and heard about the choking game as I would still have to live with myself if something happened and I didn’t say anything. But it’s hard when I know that it will make the cruel treatment I’m already getting even worse.
Kelley
