Throughout the past five days, we’ve received a high number of emails from parents at both Diablo View Middle School & Mt. Diablo Elementary School regarding a game known as “The Fainting Game”.
This game is played by holding your breath until you pass out.
Parents at both schools have emailed us and said their children have come home and told them about the game being played on campus, during recess and lunch.
At least one phone call went home to parents of children at Diablo View, regarding the dangers of the game. A father of a 6th grader told us two boys apparently fainted last week, which is what prompted the call from the Principal.
Parents at Mt. Diablo Elementary tell us children as young as 6-years-old are participating in the game.
We can confirm that teachers at both schools are aware of the problem.
According to the Center for Disease Control, they’ve found evidence to indicate that since 1995 at least 82 kids between the age of six and 18 have died in the United States as a result of the game.
{ 33 comments }
i guess some things never change. we used to do something like this around 6th grade. it required heavy breathing and pushing down on someones chest. i think we got bored of it after the first week or two, and no one got hurt, so hopefully the same happens here.
This game is OK for Liberals to play….at home.
i did this to my buddy when we were growing up. i had him hold his breath for a certain amount of time, then breath out while i pushed on his chest. He was smiling the whole time so i thought he was faking. his head tilted to the side and he fell in the same direction. landed on his head and ended up in the emergency room.
I remember playing this game also around 6th grade at a slumber party once. The next day one of the parents told us about the problems that come from playing this game and we never did it after. Any activity that deprives the brain of oxygen has the potential to cause moderate to severe brain cell death leading to permanent loss of neurological function ranging from difficulty in concentration or loss of short term memory capacity through severe, lifelong mental disability to death. This is cited from wikipedia but that is basically what the parent told us…. that scared us straight!
This is not new. There is nothing a parent can do about this. Just ignore it. If doG wants your child, she will take it. This is the first piece of kids doing their own thing. If you decide for them they will never learn. Breathing is good. Not breathing for longer than ten minutes is only good if you are in an ice covered pond and you fell through skating.
Sounds like an episode of Criminal Minds “The Choking Game”. Guess that is coming next? Time to call Hotch and his team?
I had a friend who died while we were playing this in 1981. We were in the 2nd grade in Martinez and she fell and hit her head on the blacktop. A few hours later she died during surgery. Anybody who says this is a harmless game is wrong.
There is another variation of this “game” that I won’t go into. I’m sure it’s not happening with elementary-aged children, but it was happening amongst middle and high school-aged children. I think it involved using a belt around the neck while doing “something else” at the same time. Yes, this can, and has, caused death.
Is this more dangerous or less dangerous than the “Choking Game?” Because we used to do that in middle school. Never thought cutting off blood supply to your brain could be dangerous. Maybe they need to start teaching biology in 6th grade? Stupid public school education…
i was just talkin bout this the other day… i remember doin that when i was a kid it was nuts… but you dont just hold your breath you bend over and start hyperventilating then u come up holding a deep breath with your arms at your chest while your friend bear hugs you from behind. when you wake up 7 seconds later you have no recollection of what happened and your head is all tingly. one time at a sleepover we put a blanket over our buddies head and then talked in the devils voice and said he was in hell… LMFAO he instantly screamed at the top of his lungs and told me later he actually thought he died and was in hell HA HA HA ,
I wouldn’t exactly ignore it.
Breath holding can trigger cardiac dysrhythmia. Someone with undiagnosed cardiomyopathy can actually place themself into cardiac arrest. And, that can result in death. I lost a son to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy — it’s nothing to fool with. (The problem is that it requires a multitude of tests to predetermine if someone has it. Too often it’s learned of by the coroner’s office.)
The parents are doing the right thing by voicing their concerns to the school.
Needless to day, the fainting game is an extremely game. The fainting game shall be against the rule at every school nationwide even world wide. The age range of the fainting game most likely to be around 12 to 15 unless I am wrong please let me know. This is something I should let my family be aware of a fainting game to teach children not to play the fainting game. Is this something we can let the children be aware of the fainting game? just curious.
Kids used to do this in the quad at foothill middle school in the early early 90′s (91-92). I used to think it was the dumbest game you could think of. They would breath heavily and then a friend would put pressure on the neck to cut the blood flow till they passed out. I never understood why people would do that, glad I was above that one.
(actually, that was 90-91)
helicopter parent nonsense! this cant cause any more brain damage then playstations, 500 channels of consant tv, facebook, liberal textbooks and what passes for food nowadays.
i suspects the deaths were from standin too clkse to blunt or sharp objects when they fainted.
may be we shud all petition the city counsels to ban this activity….
My son did this in 5th grade at Highlands Elementary. The boys were having a contest to see who could hold their breathe longest. When I got the call from the school that my son had fainted, I couldn’t believe it! I went to pick him up to take him to the doctor and I told him what an idiot he was! His response, “well at least I won the contest!” This was the first time that I truly realized my son lacked common sense!! Geez!!!!!!!!!!!!
Funny that some mention doing this in the 6th grade. Same here and that was when I lived in Yuma AZ back in 1982. We also got bored but it lasted a good week or two before it ended.
Natural selection is a wonderful thing!
The Fainting Game AKA the real Gateway Drug ,After getting light headed is not fun anymore it’s on to Booze and then who Knows what .Well that’s how it went for me anyway
Heard there is another threat at Alhambra High School in Martinez. School is on lockdown.
What a fun game?? (Sarcasm) Hold your breath until you pass out, cause brain damage or die!!
Kids always think that this will never happen to them, or somehow they are invincible. Hopefully they will have someone to educate all of the students about the dangers of this, huffing paint, thinners, epoxy glues, gasoline fumes etc. etc. Sipping your dinner through a straw for the rest of your life and having the IQ of a rock is NOT appealing at all………
Congress should play this game.
I remember this “game”, too. We played it (I grew up in Europe) in the 70′s. I think parents should talk to their kids and teachers to their students about the dangers of the “game”. It can lead to serious injury and even death. So no, it’s not funny and it should not be taken lightly. However, there’s not much anyone can do if kids insist on engaging in foolish behavior.
Maybe they should take up Gracie Jujutusu, they can get choked out to their hearts content
LOL at teamUSA good ideal
Citygirl…. what you’re describing is called autoerotic asphyxiation. If you have a partner it’s just erotic asphyxiation. Nothing to do with what is being talked about here.
this game was played during class at Diablo View with a sub in the room. Luckily there was a smart kid who warned other’s it was dangerous,,,how can a teacher NOT be aware of this?
I remember kids doing this around 1978 or 1979 at Silverwood. Out by Mr. Caulks class by the portable class rooms.
Come on kids stop doing this to get high, it is extremely dangerous…Just smoke a little ganja like we did when we were kids. The fainting game is a gateway game to auteroutic asphyxiation…Rest in Peace – Kung Fu
You must have smoked way to much ganja in High School. Ever heard the term ‘burn out”? There is a reason for it.
When your brain is still developing and the neurotransmitters and the frontal cortex of the brain is still not fully developed (until almost 21 experts agree). Smoking dope and binge drinking can kill those new brain cells and connections that give you memory retention, logical decision making and the capacity to concentrate. Scientific studies do not lie about the development or non development of your brain…..
Yeah, that will really help their frontal lobe develop. Smoking pot when your brain is still developing is never a good idea…..There is a reason they call pot heads, burnt out……
Check this out…..http://www.livescience.com/5298-marijuana-disrupt-brain-development.html
Earlier this year my 13 year old nephew, who lives in the midwest, died playing this game. The game can progress from just holding your breath to using something around your neck to cut off oxygen. His mother found him hanging by a dog leash with his feet on the floor. After my nephew’s death the school learned that this game was prevalent among middle school students. I applaud the Mt. Diablo schools for proactively communicating with parents, and I hope parents will learn the warning signs (including headaches, bulging eyes and very deep sleeping) and talk with their kids. My nephew was a great student, good athlete, well behaved and well liked — don’t think it can’t happen to your kids.
Somehow I made it through MDUSD without ever hearing about this game as a kid?! Wow, needless to say, I just had an age-appropriate talk with my almost 6 year old about the dangers of this, and encouraged her to share the dangers of it with other kids if they ever ask her to “play” (and tell a teacher if the kids do it anyway).
Comments on this entry are closed.