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Mar 26, 2008 8:34 pm US/Eastern
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Popular 'Choking Game' Kills Brockton Teen
BROCKTON, Mass. (WBZ) ―
A grieving Brockton mother is speaking out about the dangers of a chocking game that claimed the life of her teenage son last week.
Maliq Monroe, 13, died last week after he participated in what kids call "the choking game." Essentially, the game is when kids strangle themselves to the point of dizziness.
The goal of the game is to achieve a dream-like feeling as the blood rushes back into the head.
"It makes them feel dizzy. They get that rush," said Maliq's mother, Mary Monroe.
Malik was alone in his room last Thursday when he tied a karate belt around his neck and suffocated.
"It was a horrible, horrible, horrible accident that took him," Mary Monroe said. "I think this time something went wrong. Something went terribly wrong."
Dr. Abbie Donovan, who works at Massachusetts General Hospital for children, said teens don't often realize how dangerous their behavior is.
"What we know about teenagers in general as a group is they tend to be risk takers as they try to figure out who they are and how they fit into the world," Donovan said. "They do a lot of experimentation and because their brains are still developing, they can't always accurately predict the consequences of their actions."
Mary Monroe said she hopes other kids can learn from her son's tragedy.
"Don't wait. If they close their door, go in there and see how they're doing," she said. "I didn't do that."
Since 1995, 82 kids between ages 6 and 19 have died by playing the choking game in the United States. Ninety percent of them were boys.
To learn more about the choking game, including how to spot signs that your child is playing it, visit the following sites:
www.stop-the-choking-game.comwww.wellercenter.orgwww.cdc.gov
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