Back at the beginning of this school year, School Resource Officer Brian Dell Isola came upon an unusual sight. Walking into the Wescott Junior High School gym, he saw a group of girls standing there and one of the girls had her hands wrapped tightly around another’s throat. The rest of the girls were standing in a circle around them watching and giggling.
Dell Isola immediately called out to the girls and approached, and the girls broke apart and awkwardly told him that they were just trying to pick each other up. Not sure of what he had just witnessed, Dell Isola dismissed the girls.
Although this might not be the case, by all accounts, what Dell Isola saw in the gym that day matches the latest trend in “asphyxial games” for teens across the country. Known under various names such as the “choking game,” the “passing out game,” or “space monkey,” the game is played when teens purposely asphyxiate themselves for a rush.
By applying pressure to their throat by various means, teens succeed in closing their windpipe and blocking the carotid arteries, which arrests the flow of blood to the brain. As the body and brain is starved of oxygen, the teen subsequently loses consciousness, and then the pressure is released.
At that point, blood rushes back to the vital organs in a sudden surge resulting in a brief period of euphoria and, at times, a dreamlike state. When the teen wakes, he or she is usually unaware of where they are or what just happened to them.
The trouble begins when the “game” is played incorrectly and the pressure to the throat is not eased in time. This is most common when teens attempt to recreate the feeling alone using tools such as belts, ropes, ties, or dog leashes. At that point, the teen is in serious risk of restricting blood flow to the brain long enough to result in brain damage or even death.
Much has been made of the phenomenon in the national media in the last year or so, although it is still not commonly talked about, particularly not from child to parent. It is uncertain how widespread the activity is or how many teens are practicing it, but indications are that it is fairly common and that most teens are at least aware of it.
Following the incident in the Wescott Junior High gym, which he said left him confused and a little disturbed, Dell Isola went online and did some research that confirmed his suspicions. “It was peculiar to me, obviously,” he said. “I don’t know if the game was what they were really doing, but it resembled it enough to concern me.”
In response to the problem, Dell Isola organized a group of guidance counselors, school nurses, and other school personnel to find out how pervasive the practice might be in Westbrook. The group concluded that while there had been no incidents reported there were still some alarming signs.
Former Congin School student and current Windham Middle School sixth grader Allison Swett, said most of her friends are aware of the game and some have even tried it. “Most kids know about it,” she said. “I think it’s mostly at the primary school, where they sent notes home about it.”
Swett didn’t see any point in the game and said that she thinks her friends feel the same way. “There’s no point in doing it,” she said. “Most kids think it’s stupid. A lot have tried it, though.”
The tally of deaths attributed to the game across the country is unclear, but at least a handful of incidents are well documented, including a boy in New Hampshire who died in 2001 and two kids who died in Idaho last spring. A chat group formed in the summer of 2005 by parents whose children have died playing the game currently has over 50 members and a list of at least 70 deaths.
Medical examiners across the country have come to the conclusion that they have perhaps been late in recognizing the incidents. They now realize that many of the deaths that they have attributed to suicide among teens may have resulted from the game.
For parents attempting to steer their children away from the activity it is a difficult task as it is usually performed in places where parental supervision is absent, namely parties, sleepovers, school locker rooms and bathrooms, and even in discreet places on school grounds during recess.
Something for parents to take note of, however, would be unusual marks around their child’s neck, complaints of headaches, bloodshot eyes, and the discovery of ties or ropes arranged in usual knots.
Westbrook Assistant Superintendent Jan Breton reported that the schools are in the early stages of investigating the matter and are planning more meetings before releasing any official policy.
“It’s still very early on, but there’s been a lot of talk about it in other communities around the country,” Breton said. “We’re trying to be proactive. The school committee is planning to send something out to parents to let parents know what to look for.”
For more information, parents can contact Dell Isola by phone at 854-0830 or by email at bdelli@westbrook.me.us.
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