Children are 'strangling' themselves to get high then sharing the videos on the internet, campaign groups have warned.
Nicknamed "Space Monkey", the practice involves squeezing the carotid arteries in the neck to restrict the flow of blood to the head.
Releasing the pressure leads to a sudden rush of oxygen to the brain, giving a feeling of euphoria. But it can lead to brain damage, un-consciousness and death.
The craze is well known in the US and France and parents and campaign groups fear it is now catching on in the UK.
The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention claims in the last ten years 86 children may have died in the UK playing 'the choking game'.
There are no official figures for Britain, although the Department for Children, Schools and Families claims it is aware of the problem.
Youtube videos seen by Sky News show youths taking it in turns to squeeze each others necks before appearing to lose consciousness.
In one British video a teenager is seen hyperventilating before having his arteries crushed before passing out.
A YouTube spokesman told Sky News: "YouTube is a community site used by millions of people in very positive ways. Sadly as with any form of communication, there is a tiny minority of people who try to break the rules.
"If content breaks our terms then we remove it and if a user repeatedly breaks the rules we disable their account."
Teenagers are also sharing instructional videos to show others how it's done and using scarfes and ropes to choke themselves. Others are posting Space Monkey reports online.
On a Yahoo forum, Baay, writes: "Just as I passed out I said 'it's so scary'.
"Then I fainted and I started like having a fit or something like shaking, was it a fit? And my eyes were open and rolling back.
"Now everyone is doing it at school, and apparently if I was doing all this I could of died, is that true?"
Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, told Sky News: "First you get asphyxia anoxia which is a lack of oxygen to the brain, then you get a sudden rush of oxygen to the brain.
"Children are copying what they see in the videos and think they'll get a similar high to taking drugs.
"It is a significant problem which hasn't yet been picked up by parents and teachers.
"Not only is it difficult to prove how many people have died, we don't know how many near misses there have been."
Our Lord! Verily, we have heard the call of one calling to Faith: 'Believe in your Lord,' and we have believed.
Our Lord! Forgive us our sins and expiate from us our evil deeds, and make us die (in the state of righteousness) along with Al-Abrar
Ridicilous, I think this kids are losing something called a 'commen sense', I once saw a Dr.Phil show about teens in rollercoasters trying to get high while they are riding the rollercoaster! That is just stupid and so dangerous , where are they getting these ideas. :exhauseted
They're obviously bored out of their brains. They should get a hobby. My parents have pushed my little sister and brother into Taekwondo to prevent them from doing this sort of thing and also to keep them off the streets. They love it!
They're obviously bored out of their brains. They should get a hobby. My parents have pushed my little sister and brother into Taekwondo to prevent them from doing this sort of thing and also to keep them off the streets. They love it!
Of course, learning how to strangle people in real life is far better than doing it for any internet video.
Wow. I remember about 16 years ago or so when I was still in elementary school, my friends older brother did this to me. I didn't get 'high' but I did pass out. He said he wanted to show me something cool and told me to breath hard for about 1 min. He never told me he was going to choke me I'm just thankful nothing happened because of it.
I assume people have been doing this for a while but I guess with the help of the internet, people are now learning about it. Its a shame that people would want to put themselves at risk by doing things to themselves and others.
How stupid! They watch too much TV and play too many violent video games, or watch that fake wrestling crap! I was never allowed to watch TV, I had to play outside as a kid. My Nonna said TV was the devil. .......(she said everything was the devil)
What happened to the good old days when if you wanted to get knocked out or "high" you got in a ring(i'm a boxer) and I got you real high....as i knocked you out , you flew through the air(high) and got up in a minute.....Not sure if it felt euphoric for them though?? and i could do all this without the use of drugs!...Totally free! So it keeps the kids from stealing money from moms purse and they get disciplined.
Whatever,.... kids are a TV species now.
Don't these kids get disciplined at home? I am Italian...my mother fully believed in spanking, none of that time out crap And any foreigner can tell you that form of discipline works.
Moral of the story.....In the words of Russel Peters..."Parents beat your kids!"
25:36 And the true servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk the earth with humility and when the ignorant address them, they respond with words of peace.
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, where are they getting these ideas. :exhauseted
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