The choking game is defined on Wikipedia as “intentionally cutting off oxygen to the brain with the goal of inducing euphoria.”  It is also known as the fainting game, Blackout, jeu du foulard, Würgespiel, and Rocket Ride.  I remember playing this “game” at my friend’s basement party in the 8th grade because a group of us wanted to feel high.  When it was my turn, I bent forward with my hands on my knees and hyperventilated, then stood with my back against the wall as my friend pressed his hands against my throat to stop my breathing.  What came next was a tingling sensation down my body and a taste in my throat like I had just inhaled helium from a balloon.  Then….black. I woke up on the floor feeling light headed.  Then we did it to the next person.

This became a pretty popular game that year.  One day we decided to show our basketball coach after practice.  Yes, how stupid that must sound.  We showed our basketball coach because we thought he might be amused in some way.  We showed him because we seriously had no idea that it was a life threatening act.  As you can imagine, he was furious and tremendously disappointed in us.  That day we learned the dangers of this terrible game.  Depriving your brain of oxygen can cause brain cell death resulting in a number of horrible outcomes ranging from difficulty in concentration, short term memory loss, lifelong mental disability, and death.  The CDC just conducted it’s first large scale survey in Oregon and found that 36% of 8th graders knew about the choking game and 1 in 15 had tried it.  Most young people probably don’t know the facts, as was the case with my group of friends.  Please learn more about the choking game by visiting ChokingGame.net and thedbfoundation.com.  Then tell your friends.  Nobody’s parents should have to go through what Ken Tork has experienced.  Here he is on the Today Show, talking about how the choking game killed his son, Kevin.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy