Games?

This morning on the Today Show they were talking about a game kids play where they choke each other until they pass out, just for the sensation of passing out and coming too. (A natural "rush" one girl called it.) Several kids have been killed by doing it on their own using belts, ropes, etc., then passing out completely before they can loosen the thing from around their necks.

It reminded me of a game we used to play at slumber parties when I was about that age (10-12) - one person would lay down and another would rub both temples in a circular motion. The idea was that you would go into a trance/hypnotic state - basically, though, you would just pass out. None of us were very good at it, and I think some girls pretended it happened because there was this sense that something was wrong with you if it didn't work for you. My friend's mother was a nurse, and when she heard about it (or maybe she walked in during a slumber party? I can't remember), she told us that it was dangerous and we had to stop. I don't think we did it again.

Another thing I remember from a slumber party was sucking on hard candy sour balls - there was something about keeping them in your mouth for a long time because the sensation was really cool. (get your mind out of the gutter!) I remember waking up the next morning and the whole inside of my cheek was raw from the sour candy being pressed up against it as I slept - although the candy had dissolved. Now that I think about it, how stupid was I? Why didn't I choke to death?

Of course, at later junior high parties, (with boys!), there was this rumor that if you took a huge mouthful of Taco-flavored Doritoes and then breathed in deeply, you'd get high. (Not anything you ever see in the Doritoes ads.)

I guess my point is that kids will do all sorts of crazy things for that "rush" - and it doesn't really seem to matter if it's dangerous. Or at least, on the surface it doesn't seem dangerous - it's not drugs or cutting or sniffing aerosol cans - so I totally can relate.