The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Cyberspace can also turn lethal for unsupervised youngsters

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 25, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Cyberspace can also turn lethal for unsupervised youngsters

Sahana Charan

Parents advised to monitor children surfing the Internet

The number of victims of choking game is put at 473
Media should have its restrictions, says expert

Keeping a tab: Websites that give dangerous information to children have to be regulated.

BANGALORE: A few days ago, the media reported the death of a 13-year-old in Mumbai who had hanged himself in his room. His parents shockingly revealed later that the teen was part of a group that visited websites which taught children to play a game of cutting oxygen supply to the brain to get a temporary high.

This is probably the first reported case in India. Websites that give such dangerous information to children can cause much harm, and while such sites have to be regulated, parents should be alert about what children are doing in their free time, say psychiatrists.

New phenomenon

“The game is a new phenomenon in India but it has been around for sometime in the United States and the United Kingdom causing much anxiety to parents. Temporary asphyxia is known to give some sort of sexual gratification and many people try to choke themselves to get a high. Unfortunately, most parents may not be aware of such Internet games,” said Sunita Simon, consultant psychiatrist at the St. John’s Medical College Hospital.

According to G.A.S.P (Games Adolescents Shouldn’t Play), a global non-profit campaign started by families of choking game victims all over the world, choking game victims number as many as 473, with the U.S. reporting the highest number of incidents: 320. Of these, only a few have survived the ordeal while most have died.

“The Choking Game is a misunderstood activity causing death and suffering for thousands of families worldwide. It often begins with high-achieving teens choking each other as a way to get a high without the risk of getting caught with drugs or alcohol. It ends with thousands of children dying or suffering permanent brain damage each year,” says the G.A.S.P website.

According to B.N. Gangadhar, Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry at National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, media including print, electronic and the Internet, is a powerful tool which is highly influential, especially when it comes to adolescents and should have its restrictions. Parents have to be doubly careful when it comes to viewing disturbing programmes on television or looking at unwanted content on the Internet.

Monitoring

“The simple rules that we usually ask parents of adolescents to follow is that if a child is on the Internet, the computer should be away from the wall so that others can view what is on the screen. Moreover, there should be somebody around or in the room doing something when the youngster is on the Net, so that viewing is regulated,” Dr. Gangadhar advised.

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