The Choking Game

Distributed By: Human Relations Media
Year: 2006
Length: 19 minutes


This video explores the recent resurgence of the "choking game" which is a cheap high youth may seek by restricting the oxygen to their brains and thus experiencing euphoria and blackout. What is new-ish about the phenomenon is that youth are frequently engaging in the behavior alone, rather than in groups, as had been done in the past.

The video opens with a heartrending 9-1-1 call from the twin brother of a child who died while "playing" the game alone. The boy is sobbing and crying and screaming that his brother is dead. Later interviews with the boy and his mom reveal that an older child taught them the "game" and that the twin who had died participated regularly. The 911 call is very disturbing and hard to listen to.

Overall, the video had some good information. The youth portrayed are very young--maybe 6th through 8th grade at the oldest, so the video may not be very relevant for older youth. It does have a very forced, sort of fakey scene with the youth relating the games they could play instead of this one. It did not seem very genuine to me, and I think it might turn youth off a little bit. That was a minor detraction from the overall message. I do think that the video is very valid, and will begin using it once school starts.

A note: a child at a school I was at actually was doing this on the playground. They don't see any problem with it, and genuinely think of it as harmless and a no-drugs high. I also don't think that staff, teachers or parents are very aware about this going on. Very disturbing.