For all those of you who blame video games for violent behavior in kids, try to explain this one:
Looking back, Sarah Pacatte realizes she missed the warning signs.
But at the time, the mother of four thought maybe her 13-year-old son, Gabriel Mordecai, was smoking marijuana. She never imagined he was putting a rope around his neck and choking himself for a rush.
“A couple of months before he died, he became very hostile, very angry, and he complained of horrible headaches,” Pacatte said. “Then I started seeing bloodshot eyes.”
What killed him in May was the “choking game,” one of the names for a practice in which children use their hands, arms, ropes or belts to cut oxygen to their brains and pass out.
Hang on a second… horrible tragedy, drugs are evil, simply awful, legalize whale-hunting, my heart goes out to this family, I really hate monkeys, blame the school system and the government, did I leave the iron on again, send therapists to the school, was always such a good kid, yadda yadda yadda… okay, done.
So, where did the kid get this idea?
I blame Hangman. Sure, marijuana makes you do stupid things and it’s bad for you, but you’ve got to have something stupid as a launching pad from which to do even more stupid things.
The kid choked himself. And just like videogamers kill aliens and people over and over on the screen, kids also hang stickfigures over and over in the classic kiddie game of Hangman.
How do you go from hanging stick figures to hanging yourself? Well, how don’t you? It’s makes perfect sense to me. I’m shocked I didn’t end up doing it myself when I was in the Fifth Grade. Thankfully, there was a rope shortage due to some sort of foreign policy gaffe thing, and you can’t hang yourself with sausage links or that bubblegumtape stuff.
So, folks, instead of worrying about drugs and guns and gangs, keep your kids away from Hangman. Especially the dumb ones who can’t spell.
So, when will Fear Factor include a new segment called “Extreme Hangman” where the contestants try to guess a word and get hung from a blimp or dumped in a tub of animal guts or forced to talk to Regis Philbin for five minutes?
Everytime you try to do something to make the world safer, stupid kids find ways to kill themselves. It’s just natures way. Becareful though, I hear that the Dems in congress might be pursuing belt-locks to prevent belts from being used in such horrible accidents.
Maybe with a 30 day waiting period on all belt sales too.
It all starts with “choking the chicken” and goes downhill from there.
Congress must ban auto-eroticism!
On second thought, if waxing carrots is criminal, only criminals shall have waxed carrots.
I’m not sure I’m willing to live in such a world.
Reminds me of that Onion article a couple years back about the father of a kid who died by auto-erotic asphyxiation or whatever the term is. He decided to tell his co-workers that his son died in a car wreck, instead.
You had to read it – trust me, it was funny.
screw you for judging me!
Honestly, who came up with this? It’s like huffing without the spray paint or glue.
What’s worse is this has Law and Order episode written all over it…
This was on CSI too.
The time has come to outlaw rope.
Did you even try using sausage links?
Imagine the news:
“Jewish boy dies tragically hanging himself with sausages – pork sausages”
Hey! that could even be a new torture method used against terrorists!
On May 6, 2005 my precious, caring, forgiving, thrill seeking, intelligent 13 year old son Gabriel died from playing this stupid kid game…The choking game. No sexual connections anywhere around him .. fully clothed, pants zipped… but you know what? Those kids need saving too who practice masturbation while cutting off their air supply… Were any of you ever kids? Did any of you ever make lame choices that put you at risk of harm or death? I sure did… kids who play this game are seeking a ‘high’ and they think it’s not as bad or harmful as doing dope or drinking booze..and they think they have a safety net set up so the choking device will let go it’s the right time.. Oh my god, kids are dying from this! I’m so glad your perfect choices in life have left you cold and uncaring to throw such selfish comments around. I pray it never happens to someone any of you love, or when you get older with children (certainly none of you here have any of those..who could speak this way carelessly about kids if they did?) it doesn’t happen to one of them. I love my son, I miss him so much. He was such a kick, and a great brother, grandson, nephew, cousin and friend. Take a trip to his web site and educate your self… I adored this boy of mine…
Sarah Pacatte
http://StillLovingMyGabriel.com
You can’t blame video games totally for violent behavior in kids. The main thing for parents is that just be careful. George
Okay, I’ll confess. My beloved cat Edloe didn’t die from liver failure. She died from playing a similar “choking game” with her collar.
If only I’d have gotten the cats quick-release safety collars. IF ONLY I HAD GOTTEN THE CATS QUICK-RELEASE SAFETY COLLARS!
Laurence Simon
You are a jerk… and I bet you like negative feedback..kind of thrive on it? To bad it was your cat……
You people are so ignorant. Do you actually imagine that you will be forever immune to tradgedy, pain, or injustice? How dare you make a joke of my nephews death? How dare you be so foolish and arrogant as to believe that no harm will come to you- God forbid you ever have a child who engages in childish behavior…supposing he runs into the street and is killed by a driver? Are you going to call him stupid too? Shame on you and may God actually have mercy on your immature soul. Still missing and Loving Gabriel, Aunt Eva
Furthermore, you jerks, one of my best friends mother is 72 years old. The mother did this same thing as a young teenager. It is not so new, it is not so funny, it is used for getting high, which most young people seem to enjoy..
You mock my pain over my kittycat who strangled herself on her unsafe collar while doped up on catnip because I was unaware of the dangers of that collar or her mind-altering catnip habits?
You have no heart. YOU HAVE NO HEART!
i have never heard of this so called “choking game” before…i’m a teenager too..i just found out that alot teenagers play this “choking game”..i mean really! they literally choke themselves!..somebody please explain! if they’re not suicidal then why would they so such a crazy act! i mean how can u find pleasure in choking urself?!.people nowadays are really strange…i’m sorry that u’ve lost ur son by a stupid game ,sarah..i’m just really surprised people actually die this way!
ok listen parents of gabriel, gabriel had to have had some kind of suicidle thoughts because he had at least thought that there was no possible way to undo the belt or rope if he passed out and my bested wishes to your family and may god rest his soal.
your a fag laurence
All of you people making fun at this are sick individuals. Sarah I am so sorry to hear about this happening to your son. Nothing said here can bring him back. I cannot imagine what you are going through. Accept my deepest thoughts and condolences. The rest of you making light of this matter again are sick and cruel to even say such horrible things. This was a family trajedy which left a lot of family hurt and confused. By no means is this a laughing matter. The choking game is real, and as disturbing as it is ..kids are doing it and dying from it. Again I am so sorry this happened to your Gabriel. I am very saddened by hearing about this game. I have two boys and would just want to die myself if something were to happen to either of them. But you cannot give up…you have to keep going for Gabriel.
I have heard of the game at that time it was called the space monkey. Anyways the reason I’m writeing about this is because, my daughter had a boyfriend who played this same game with a belt and everyone thought it was suicide. But we know now it wasn’t. His mother feels awful because she didn’t see the signs in time. But maybe we can do something about this. Used to you had to worry about kids doing drugs, alcohol, you still do have to worry about those things but now it’s the choking game. I just want to choke the person that came up with this. Because my daughter wen’t through H*** when she found out. No one should go through that anytime in there life. I’m so sorry to here about your son’s death Gabriel he was much to young. God bless your family.
I’m sorry to hear that.Accept my deepest thoughts and condolences. Everyon has just one life and we should take care of it.
i was wondering if anyone knew what that url for the website on how to play this is.
I play hangman all the time, but it doesnt make we want to go hang myself to get a high, I would rather just go smoke a blunt or a joint to get high. There is no cutting off air and no one has really died of weed that i know of. I smoke weed everyday and it hasnt effected me one bit, I think it has taken me to a new level of thinking. I have gotten a 4.00 in my tech center class and was 1 out of 347 people in that tech center, along with that I have gotten scholarships too. So I dont think that weed is a problem at all its the lack of parental guidance in those kid’s lives. My parents asked a lot of questions and always asked where I was going and where I was when they called me. Hangman is not the problem it’s the fact that parents arent strict enough.
Choking game can end up fatal..my friend lost his life at 17. Tuesday I walked into school and a good friend of mine had died the night before trying the choking game…in return it killed him. They ruled it as an accident..so your asking how is this problem…starting things like this sometimes start out innocent, and end up fatal.
one of my childhood friends just died from playing Hangman. I would like to learn more about this game. Not so I can play it, but so I can warn others about it. Why would a compnay even make a stupid game like that?
hi iom natasha and i had lost my step brother from playing this game and i had also lost a friend all in the month of august i just hane to say NOBODY WINS IN THIS GAME
I have heard of this game, but not with a rope. The way it has been done is by taking 10 deep breaths and then holding your neck. it supposed to give you some type of high. i’ve heard of people doing this while taking ecstasy. I thought that was bad, but using a rope is even worse. Im so sorry you lost your son to such a stupid game and i wish more parents will be educated on it so that they can better see the signs in their children. God bless you and your son!
Hi I honestly have never played this game but i do feel for this family. I wish it would have never of happened.
I think that people who play the choking game should learn how to stop playing the game.It’s a horrible thing to do and it’s just plain stupid.You might think it’s relaxing and funny, but it’s not.All you are doing is killing yourself.
Im sorry For your sons loss. It really saddens me that there are so many uneducated people out there that they are selfish to other peoples feelings,but with a world that is trying to get rid of god it is no wonder. I believe if we all would listen too and read gods word the world would be a better place. as for this choking game,its been around alot longer than the hangman game.to blame it on the game is wrong,yes it could be where the newer generation got alot of their ideas but it did not take them by the hand and say lets kill ourselves today playing hangman.anyways i just wanted to say im sorry for your loss. lets educate the world and save the lives of alot more precious children. the choking game can and will kill you in more ways than one.thanks for listening.
I take what i said yesterday back i have plaied this game but i didnt know what it was at the time until now and i regret ever doing it. Because i rember that we all held or breaths and then some 1 whould push on our lungs and see who would pass out first. I rember refusing but then gave in and played. I rember wakeing up really light headed but I never played it again. Partly because something in the back of my head said it was wrong plus it made me sick. But if i knew that it could have killed me i would never have even considered it. I am so stupid for even tring it and now i know the consiqnes for playing this deadly game. I am very sorry for you and your family. I really do because I can see what can happen 2 some1 my age because i am only 13 myself.
A 12 girl that I know died a few months ago due to hanging. A lot of people thought/think she committed sucide and others think that her father killed her and hung her as a way of covering for it. I am not beginning to wonder, since hearing about this game, that maybe it was neither…maybe it was a sad and unfortunately stupid accidently. Wish I knew more info about this game so I could decide for myself how this young girl died.