The choking game

Growing up in the ’60s in Massachusetts, one of the most frightening summers was spent watching a group of kids (we had no idea who they were; back then your mother turned you loose and you met up with whomever you met up with) play this game in which one would get behind the other, grab them from behind and squeeze their chest until they passed out.

The person would fall to the beach sand and — perhaps a minute later; maybe less — come back to life.

Fun times. And my brother and I wanted nothing to do with it. Kids are still playing the game.

Way back then, I was afraid I’d end up like Dan Macklin Jensen, a 17 year old Wisconsin wrestler who died while playing the game in Fargo on Friday, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.

A group formed to stop kids from playing the game produced this presentation for students:

The group says 250 to 1,000 kids die each year playing the game.