{"id":276351,"date":"2010-02-04T13:00:50","date_gmt":"2010-02-04T18:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/childrenshospitalblog.org\/?p=4550"},"modified":"2010-02-04T13:00:50","modified_gmt":"2010-02-04T18:00:50","slug":"the-choking-game%e2%80%94parents-be-aware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/276351","title":{"rendered":"The choking game\u2014Parents, be aware!"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-3632\" title=\"Claire McCarthy\" src=\"http:\/\/childrenshospitalblog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/McCarthyClaire_dsc0453-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"Claire McCarthy\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" \/>Have you heard of the choking game?<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t feel bad if you haven\u2019t\u2014it was news to me <a href=\"http:\/\/pediatrics.aappublications.org\/cgi\/content\/full\/125\/1\/82\">when I read about it in this month\u2019s issue of the journal, Pediatrics.<\/a> But if you\u2019re the parent of a teen (as I am), you need to know about it.<\/p>\n<p>In this \u201cgame\u201d, played in groups or alone, teens temporarily deprive their brains of oxygen.\u00a0 This causes a \u201chigh\u201d, and there is another pleasurable sensation when the blood and oxygen rush back into the brain.<span id=\"more-4550\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>There are three ways teens cut blood flow to the brain:<br \/>\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Choking<br \/>\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Tying something around the neck<br \/>\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Holding their breath while someone hugs them from behind<\/p>\n<p>The danger, obviously, is when the oxygen deprivation goes on longer than it should.\u00a0 It can cause seizures, neck fractures and brain damage\u2014but it can also kill.\u00a0 The game is most likely to be fatal when it\u2019s played alone, as the person can lose consciousness and become unable to undo whatever is around the neck, but there have been deaths in group games also. It\u2019s hard to get accurate data on deaths; when teens are found dead with something around the neck, it\u2019s not always possible to know if they were trying to commit suicide or just looking for a high. The Centers for Disease Control has attributed 82 deaths to the choking game between 2005 and 2007, but advocacy groups say it\u2019s much higher, more than 100 each year.<\/p>\n<p>If you have teenagers, here\u2019s what you need to do:<\/p>\n<p>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Talk to them about the choking game.\u00a0 Ask them if they have ever played it, or if they know anyone who has.\u00a0 Make sure they understand how incredibly dangerous it is.<br \/>\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Be aware of the signs that your child might be playing the choking game.\u00a0 They include frequent headaches, unexplained bruising around the neck, bloodshot eyes, tiny flat red spots (called petechiae) on the face, seeming disoriented after being alone, ropes, neckties or other things that could go around the neck, with knots in them, in unusual places or signs of wear on furniture (from having things tied to them).<\/p>\n<p>If you notice these signs, take it seriously\u2014and take action.\u00a0 Talk to your teen, increase your supervision and call your doctor for help.<\/p>\n<p>\t<a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"mailto:?subject=The%20choking%20game%E2%80%94Parents%2C%20be%20aware%21&amp;body=http%3A%2F%2Fchildrenshospitalblog.org%2Fthe-choking-game%25e2%2580%2594parents-be-aware%2F\" title=\"email\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/childrenshospitalblog.org\/wp-content\/plugins\/sociable\/images\/email_link.png\" title=\"email\" alt=\"email\" class=\"sociable-hovers\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fchildrenshospitalblog.org%2Fthe-choking-game%25e2%2580%2594parents-be-aware%2F&amp;t=The%20choking%20game%E2%80%94Parents%2C%20be%20aware%21\" title=\"Facebook\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/childrenshospitalblog.org\/wp-content\/plugins\/sociable\/images\/facebook.png\" title=\"Facebook\" alt=\"Facebook\" class=\"sociable-hovers\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/home?status=The%20choking%20game%E2%80%94Parents%2C%20be%20aware%21%20-%20http%3A%2F%2Fchildrenshospitalblog.org%2Fthe-choking-game%25e2%2580%2594parents-be-aware%2F\" title=\"Twitter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/childrenshospitalblog.org\/wp-content\/plugins\/sociable\/images\/twitter.png\" title=\"Twitter\" alt=\"Twitter\" class=\"sociable-hovers\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"http:\/\/digg.com\/submit?phase=2&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fchildrenshospitalblog.org%2Fthe-choking-game%25e2%2580%2594parents-be-aware%2F&amp;title=The%20choking%20game%E2%80%94Parents%2C%20be%20aware%21&amp;bodytext=Have%20you%20heard%20of%20the%20choking%20game%3F%0D%0A%0D%0ADon%E2%80%99t%20feel%20bad%20if%20you%20haven%E2%80%99t%E2%80%94it%20was%20news%20to%20me%20when%20I%20read%20about%20it%20in%20this%20month%E2%80%99s%20issue%20of%20the%20journal%2C%20Pediatrics.%20But%20if%20you%E2%80%99re%20the%20parent%20of%20a%20teen%20%28as%20I%20am%29%2C%20you%20need%20to%20know%20about%20it.%0D%0A%0D%0AIn%20thi\" title=\"Digg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/childrenshospitalblog.org\/wp-content\/plugins\/sociable\/images\/digg.png\" title=\"Digg\" alt=\"Digg\" class=\"sociable-hovers\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"http:\/\/delicious.com\/post?url=http%3A%2F%2Fchildrenshospitalblog.org%2Fthe-choking-game%25e2%2580%2594parents-be-aware%2F&amp;title=The%20choking%20game%E2%80%94Parents%2C%20be%20aware%21&amp;notes=Have%20you%20heard%20of%20the%20choking%20game%3F%0D%0A%0D%0ADon%E2%80%99t%20feel%20bad%20if%20you%20haven%E2%80%99t%E2%80%94it%20was%20news%20to%20me%20when%20I%20read%20about%20it%20in%20this%20month%E2%80%99s%20issue%20of%20the%20journal%2C%20Pediatrics.%20But%20if%20you%E2%80%99re%20the%20parent%20of%20a%20teen%20%28as%20I%20am%29%2C%20you%20need%20to%20know%20about%20it.%0D%0A%0D%0AIn%20thi\" title=\"del.icio.us\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/childrenshospitalblog.org\/wp-content\/plugins\/sociable\/images\/delicious.png\" title=\"del.icio.us\" alt=\"del.icio.us\" class=\"sociable-hovers\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/childrenshospitalblog\/~4\/TEMxWlax6Zc\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you heard of the choking game? Don\u2019t feel bad if you haven\u2019t\u2014it was news to me when I read about it in this month\u2019s issue of the journal, Pediatrics. But if you\u2019re the parent of a teen (as I am), you need to know about it. In this \u201cgame\u201d, played in groups or alone, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":503,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-276351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/503"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276351\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}