The Danger of Choking Games

There is no denying the sad truth.  Children do not remain children for very long in our present society.  The concerns of teenagers have moved to tweens, and the dangerous activities of daring tweens are now being tried by eight and nine year old kids.

I received a phone call today from my childhood best friend.  She teaches at our old elementary school, and she called to let me know that one of her fifth grade students hung himself.  I was, as anyone would be, completely shocked.  The boy was ten.  He was described by all of his teachers as a perfectly happy kid with nice and helpful parents.  His parents were divorced, as half of all parents are, and he easily split his time between their homes in the same town.  The only indication that anything was wrong in his life was his current two week grounding for taking a classmate’s cell phone.

Immediately I began asking questions. Why wasn’t there a note?  How does a ten year old boy know how to take his life in that manner?  Why weren’t there any warning signs or cries for help?

Understandably, sometimes these tragedies occur without warning or reason.  But I couldn’t help but wonder if this was not the first time this child has escaped to his room and created his own choking method…only this time, it went horribly wrong.

Pushing the boundaries of safety and experimentation are a normal part of child development for every child, but with the web guiding children to more and more dangerous activities with how-to guides and instructions, it is of utmost importance that we all know what our children are doing, what they are trying. Smoking a somewhat harmless cigarette behind the local gas station has given way to horrifying past times such as choking games.  Reading about children as young as six years old trying this new way to get high leads me to believe that there is more going on in my small hometown than anyone there is ready to admit.

To learn more about choking games, please go to: http://stop-the-choking-game.com

(photo credit: apdk)

Amy Lupold Bair writes about everything from parenting to fun giveaways at http://resourcefulmommy.com

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