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The Choking Game
Williams parents warned of dangerous game

Parents of students in the Williams area are being asked to talk to their children about the dangers of playing "the Choking Game." The object of this game, according to officials with the Williams Police Department, is to cut off the flow of oxygen to the brain by squeezing the neck or compressing the chest in order to feel a "consciousness altering" experience. Officials in the Williams area are encouraging parents to speak with their children about the possible dangers of the game, which can include brain damage and even death in some cases.

According to a report from the Center for Disease Control, gathered from newspaper accounts, roughly 82 deaths have been attributed to the game between 1995 and 2007 for youths between the ages of 6-19-years-of-age.

"We were notified that this choking game was occurring at the Williams Elementary School, but when we first received the information we didn't receive much detail in that regard, so we didn't know if it was actually a game or if there was something that was harmful being done to kids without their consent. When we looked into it, we did find that it was this game, as I'll call it, commonly known as the choking game that was being done by students at the school," said Detective Rob Krombeen with the Williams Police Department.

While there have been no major incidents in the Williams area regarding the activity, Krombeen stressed the dangers of the game, also known as "pass out," "ghost," and "dreaming," among other names.

"We interviewed numerous students whose names had come up and spoke to them," Krombeen said. "Just from a safety point of view, we contacted their parents out of concern for their safety and welfare at the school. We've asked parents to communicate and talk to their kids about the dangers that are associated with any type of intentional or unintentional strangulation and the deprivation of blood to the brain."

Krombeen said the "game" is most popular among middle school students. No reports of the choking game have been reported at the high school.

"The kids that we spoke to are all from the middle school and they had indicated that some of them, who were aware of this going on, had been spoken to several years previously when they were in the elementary grade and several actually indicated that they had not become involved recently because of being talked to several years ago. This seems to go in cycles. Every few years it works its way around different campuses. The school had had issues with it approximately two to three years ago and we addressed it then."

The issues, he said, concern students that participated in the game. Some of the Williams students, he said, actually passed out, while others merely came close.

"They have various sensations of light-headedness and euphoric feelings, but it often results in unconsciousness," Krombeen said.


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