A deadly game

Sharron Grant had no idea her 12-year-old son was choking himself to get high. She found out in the worst way possible. Now she's determined to prevent other parents from suffering the same grief

Tony Palermo,

Originally published in Today's Parent June 2011

Send
Share

iStock

On Saturday, April 23, 2005, Sharron Grant returned home from running errands and made her way through the house saying hello to each of her three children. She found her younger son, Joshua, playing upstairs with his cousin. Not seeing his older brother, Jesse, Sharron went to his bedroom. When she opened the door, her world came crashing down.

“My 12-year-old son — my pride and joy — was strangled from the computer cord he had put around his neck,” says Sharron from the small town of Penetanguishene, Ont.

Jesse, a sociable, happy kid who was an A-level student in school.

Jesse, who loved cross-country running, baseball, hockey and soccer.

Jesse, who didn’t smoke or do drugs.

Jesse’s death was ruled an accidental asphyxiation. He didn’t intend to kill himself.

Jesse died while playing the choking game.

While parents may never have heard of it, kids across North America know it by many names: airplaning, American dream, blackout, California high, fainting game, flatliner, gasp, passout, space monkey and suffocation roulette. It involves choking yourself to cut off the flow of blood to the brain, which produces a light-headed feeling. Then as the pressure is released, blood rushes back to the brain, resulting in a short-lived, euphoric high. These feelings are actually caused by brain cells dying from a lack of oxygen.

Usually played by adolescents between the ages of nine and 16, it is often referred to as a good kid’s high because it is typically performed by kids who are generally high-achieving and sociable, and shun alcohol and drugs.

“Unfortunately, it’s considered by these kids as harmless fun,” says Sharron. “There is nothing harmless about playing the choking game. The dangers are very real.”

Although it’s typically first played in a group setting with one person choking another, the dangers really increase when kids try to find the high on their own. If they lose consciousness, they are unable to loosen whatever is choking them. Death occurs in four or five minutes, permanent brain damage in even less time.

“Everyone else was home when Jesse did this,” says Sharron. “He was by himself for no more than 15 minutes.”

It is estimated that up to 1,000 young people in North America die each year from playing the choking game, though accurate statistics — whether for the US, Canada or elsewhere — are hard to come by as many deaths are classified simply as asphyxiation or mislabelled as suicides. However, a 2009 survey conducted by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health revealed that five percent of Ontario’s high school students reported participating in the choking game; that’s approximately one in 20 students throughout grades seven to 12.