Solitary Participation in the “Choking Game” in Oregon

I disagree with the findings contained in this article. Let me first state that I am a mother of a child that participated in the choking game and died. This article has just blown a hole in the work of many parents trying to spread awareness. Without education of the dangers every child is vulnerable. Parents of victims apparently were not consulted in the study. Wouldn't you want to know what kind of kids are dying playing this so called game? The best place to get those answers is by asking the families themselves. I do know that if my son had known about the dangers he would still be here. Like many other kids, he was not suicidal nor did he have mental health issues. The study stated “Youth who participate alone… exhibit substantially higher rates of suicidal ideation and poorer mental health compared with youth who participate in the choking game in a group”. Sadly there will be parents who read this article and not share the dangers because they think that the results of this study doesn't fit their child. Our coroner believes that it was my sons first time participating. I have been bringing awareness to the DEADLY Dangers of the choking game since he died January 7th 2006. In the almost 11 years, I have met many families that have lost children to this deadly activity. The majority of the children were good kids, honor roll kids, athletes, kids that because of awareness of the dangers of drugs, alcohol and even smoking made wise choice to "Just say NO". They did not know the dangers. They just thought they were making themselves pass out. Provided that no one experiences a side effect like seizure, stroke, heart attack or death. They think I am just making myself pass out - no big deal. They made a mistake. I heard of the choking game about a month before my son died. I had seen a mom on Oprah talking about finding her son dead after playing the choking game. A single parent from a big city in California. She said her son was a risk taker. As an involved parent I had never heard of it in our area. About 50 days later, I found my child dead. No child is immune to the dangers. It can happen to anyone. It happened to my child. I didn’t mention what I seen to my children because my children did not fit the "type" of kids that would do this. This is something I will always regret. If I had said something Kelly would still be here. Sadly I am left to tell his story. That is what I have been doing for nearly 11 years. We need to work together to get out the proper information. Make the medical profession, coroners, police, educators and parents aware that without educating our kids the next victim could be someone you love. Let’s be pro-active and not re-active.

I strongly disagree with the information contained in this article. Let me first state that I am a mother of a child that participated in the choking game and died. Our coroner believes that from all appearances that it was his first time doing this. Today November 28th, his birthday, 10 birthdays we have had to celebrate without him. I have been bringing awareness to the DEADLY Dangers of the choking game since he died January 7th 2006. In the last 10 soon to be 11 years I have met many families that have lost children to this deadly activity. I would have to say that the majority of the children were well adjusted kids, honor roll kids, athletes, kids that because of awareness of the dangers of drugs, alcohol and even smoking made wise choice to "Just say NO". These kids did not know the dangers of the choking game. When introduced to the choking game it appears that kids are just making themselves pass out. That is provided that no one experiences an adverse side effect like seizure, stroke, heart attack or death. So they think I am just making myself pass out - no big deal. They get up laughing and giddy. I first heard of the choking game just a month and a half before my son died. I heard about it on a 5 min segment of the Oprah show. It was a mom talking about finding her son dead after playing the choking game. She was a single parent from a big city in California. She talked about her son being a risk taker. I immediately thanked God that we raised our children in a 2 parent home, raised them in the church, I had always been an involved parent in my childrens education. If the choking game had been in our area I would have known. WRONG. A month and a half later I found my child dead a victim of the choking game. No child is immune to the Deadly dangers of the choking game. My son Kelly was a well adjusted kid, he loved life, he had high grades, his teachers loved him, he was not a risk taker and always approached new experiences with caution. We live in a rural community where everyone knows everyone. Not a faraway big city. So yes, it can happen to anyone. It happened to my child. I chose not to mention the Oprah segment to my children because I didn't think it was in our area or that my children did not fit the "type" of kids that would do this. This is something I will always regret. I know that if I had said something Kelly would have been the one telling his friends "Don't do this you can die the first time you play". Sadly I am left to tell his story. I believe that if he could say anything to me now he would say "mom tell my friends tell anyone that will listen how dangerous this choking game is, don't let this happen to another family." Well, that is what I have been doing for the last 10 years. This article has just blown a big hole in the work that many of us parents have been trying to do to spread awareness that without education on the dangers any child is vulnerable. I want to know why parents of children that have lost their lives to this deadly activity were not consulted in the study. Wouldn't you want to really know what kind of kids are dying playing this so called game? The best place to get the answers to that question is by asking the families themselves. I for one would say my son was not perfect but I do know that given education about the dangers Kelly would still be here today. Sadly there will be parents that read this article and not share the dangers because they think this doesn't fit their child. We all need to work together to get out the proper information on the dangers. Make the medical profession, police, coroners, educators, parents all aware that without educating our kids the next victim could be your son, daughter, grandchild, niece, nephew, friend. Lets be pro-active and not have to be re-active. Don't let this happen to someone you love. -Debbie LaRocque (Choking Game Awareness Educator at gaspinfo.com