The Choking Game

November 26, 2005 -- There is a form of child's play that can be deadly. It's called the choking game.

Thirteen-year-old Kodee Alcott was a natural born athlete. He enjoyed skateboarding, snowboarding, and playing hockey. Trina: "He was so good." He was a big fan of our own meteorologist Cecily Tynan, and in January, got to meet her. Trina Alcott/Mother: "I said, 'Cecily' and she turned around and he goes, 'Aaaahh!'" By all accounts, he was a friendly, energetic kid. So last March, Trina Alcott was completely unprepared for what she found in the basement when she came home from work. Trina: "I saw him hanging there, and I just started screaming his name." Trina: "I untied the rope, I leaned his head on my shoulder." But Kodee was gone. The coroner's report said "suicide," but Trina Alcott doesn't believe it. Trina: "He was a happy kid, he was a jokester, he liked to make you smile." Trina thinks her son died playing the choking game. The "game" is to cut off blood flow to the brain to the point of blacking out, creating a high.

The game goes by a host of names including California choke, space cowboy, space monkey, and airplaning. Children, from 8 years on up, are doing it. Kids involved in church, community, sports are doing it. Kids who would never take drugs, drink, or smoke are doing it. Metheny: "They think they're doing something safe." Officer Scott Metheny/Upper Moreland Police: "Sometimes, it goes just a little bit too far, and they end up dead." Upper Moreland police officer Scott Metheny first heard of the choking game last month, from parents. Metheny: "They'd had a party at their house, and they later found out, that of the 16 girls there, 8 of them tried this, and one of them passed out." Metheny, who does anti-drug work, immediately pulled together a no-nonsense, sometimes graphic, presentation about the deadly trail the choking game has carved across the country. Students learn what really happens during that "high." Ofc. Metheny: "The high that they're feeling is the brain dying." And they see the faces of those who've died. It's an emotionally wrenching 30 minutes, hard for some to take. Metheny: "You look at some of them and you think - they know somebody's who's doing it, or maybe they've tried it." Middle school principal Thomas Mulvey says it's necessary to make kids see the danger. As with drugs and alcohol, he says parents should be talking to their children about the choking game. Thomas Mulvey/Upper Moreland Middle School: "Do you know anyone? What have you heard about this? What do you know about this? If there's an awareness, that awareness came from somewhere." Make it clear your child's not in trouble for what he or she tells you. Look for signs your child might be involved: