Dennis RomeroAs many as one out of ten teens (11 percent, actually) have participated in the “choking game,” cutting off air to get high or, in Rob Schneider's case, accentuate orgasm.
The alarming stat from a West Coast study was published this week for the May issue of the journal Pediatrics.
Researchers looked at 5,348 8th graders and found that …
… 5 to 11 percent of them have tried out the choking game, mostly to “get high or achieve a euphoric feeling,” according to a statement.
Rob Schneider's choking game.; Credit: Fox
Unfortunately, choking can make you dead, which is not as bad as other demonized ways to achieve euphoric feelings, if you know what we mean.
The study says teens who do this, often via “belt, rope or other item” often engage in other risky behavior including sex, drugs (and rock 'n' roll).
Girls who did it tended to be gamblers. Boys were exposed to violence.
Lead researcher Robert Nystrom, adolescent health manager at the Oregon Public Health Division in Portland, says:
If kids do participate, they are likely to do it more than once.
That's bad. We never thought we'd see the day when drugs were a safer alternative for young people. Stay away from those ropes and belts, kids.
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