What is a Space Monkey? or Space Junkie?

Just what on this earth or up in space is a "space monkey"? Not a Tv show cartoon character, or a cute little monkey that plays games so harmlessly.

Definitions via The Urban Dictionary : 

  Space Monkey is a game that teens play where a person either chokes his/herself or has someone else do it until they almost pass out. It can cause brain damage due to lack of oxygen to the brain.

 A game played by boys and girls ages 10-20 who can't manage to get their hands on any weed. Choking yourself causes lack of oxygen to the brain and can cause oneself to lose consciousness or die. Kids think that it makes them feel high, while really it just destroys their brain.

Accurate definitions? pretty much 

Not just in the United States, this problem is a global problem! 

An article from the UK based "Sky News" reports 

Roddy Mansfield, Sky News Online

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.
You-tube 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.

The practice can cause unconsciousness by restricting blood and oxygen to the brain

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 scarves 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."

 The practice can cause unconsciousness by restricting blood and oxygen to the brain

 Children are filming themselves choking each other and sharing the videos online

Space Monkey?

or

Space Junkie?

 or 

Dead

you choose

 make the right choice, choose life! 

 

What are the signs??

Information that was shared via John Tesh's Video for your Life website: Thank you for reaching out to parents!

Parents, you may have already talked to your kids about the dangers of alcohol
and Illegal drugs, but there's a danger you may not even know about. It's called the Choking Game, or Space Cowboy, Cloud 9, and Flat-line. lt's where kids deprive their brains of oxygen by briefly strangling themselves with a belt, rope, dog collar, or bungee cord, and get a temporary high when the blood rushes back Into their head. According to ABC News, kids are drawn to the Choking Game because It's cheap, doesn't Involve Illegal drugs, and seems less dangerous. However, It causes
permanent brain damage, and it kills - mostly boys between the ages of 11 and 16.
So, how can you protect your child? Talk to them! Make sure they understand that suffocating themselves to get high can cause permanent brain damage and death. Get them Into other activities -like soccer, hiking, or learning to cook. Studies show that kids who are involved in extracurricular activities are less likely to try to get high.

Also, keep an eye out for red flags like:
Bloodshot eyes, 
marks or bruising around the neck, 
and frequent ,severe headaches, 
pinpoint spots of blood under the skin of the face, especially the eyelids. 
Or in the clearlining of eyelids and eyes.
Also: Unusual demands for privacy, 
disorientation after spending time alone, 
and wearing
high-necked shirts, even In warm weather.
Other red flags include:
Ropes, scarves, t-shirts or belts tied to bedroom furniture or doorknobs, or found knotted on the floor or in unusual places, and the unexplained presence of dog leashes, choke collars, and bungee cords.

If you believe your child's doing something dangerous, seek medical and psychological help Immediately. Your Intervention could literally save their life. You can find a therapist at Therapists.PsychologyToday.com. Alert the parents of your child's friends. If one kid is doing it, there are probably others, and if an older teen is involved, younger kids in the same family may also be at risk.

Anytime your parental sense that something is wrong or different with your child is like a sign that you need to act and investigate what your child might be doing . Don't ever think "Oh I don't want them to get mad at me, who cares if they get mad, let them be mad, at least they will still be alive. Imagine if you found your child dead, hanging from a rope or belt on their bed, you thought something was just not right about them lately, but you did not want to interfere or "make them mad" now they are dead!!! did it really matter?? No, you can't bring them back now!
So be the parent and do something NOW! Talk to them NOW, they are never to young to talk about youth risk behaviors!!

Schoolboy's Death was an accident~

Schoolboy's death was an accident says new inquest

 from the UK
THE parents of a Tonbridge schoolboy who died after hanging himself with his school tie proved this week it was an accident after classmates revealed he had previously played a choking game.
There were tears of relief from the parents of 12-year-old Judd pupil William Lippell Stanesby when a second inquest found he had not committed suicide.

 

CHOKED: William Lippell Stanesby

Parents David Stanesby and Sabrina Lippell, from Tunbridge Wells, never believed their son had wanted to take his own life, insisting he had died accidentally while playing a game in which people choke themselves until they faint.
Mr Stanesby said the game, known to have claimed at least 11 other young lives nationwide, was "considered in some teenage circles to have cult-like status".
An open verdict was recorded at an inquest in September due to a lack of evidence.
The rare second inquest was called after critical information was provided by fellow Judd pupils who revealed William had talked about and even attempted the chilling prank.
Classmates told their teacher William had spoken about the "highly dangerous game" in which youngsters restricted air to their brain by constricting their necks with hands or a tie.
The coroner recorded a verdict of misadventure.


Credit to article here:  http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/Schoolboy-s-death-accident-says-new-inquest/story-14146614-detail/story.html

So a misadventure, or here in the states we would call it "they made a mistake by calling this a suicide! So many of our kids are dying and their deaths are being labeled a "suicide" by uneducated coroners. Time has come for education, if you are an ER Nurse, ER doctor, an Emergency worker in the field or that Coroner that does the autopsy, look for other clues as to whether this child was actually playing the "choking game" , know the differences. Don't just automatically think suicide, many of these incidents are accidental. Parents need closure and need to know.

Millbrae teen's death blammed on "choking game"

Another child dies and we have to ask why? I had to post this report from Dan Noyes
a reporter from abc.com in California.

Dan Noyes , Chief Investigative Reporter

More: Bio, E-mail, Blog, Facebook, Twitter, News Team

MILLBRAE, Calif. (KGO) -- It goes by many names -- space monkey, Cali high, the choking game -- and it's a risky fad that appears to have claimed another young victim, a freshman from Mills High School in Millbrae. Child advocates say we're not putting any ideas into kids' heads by doing this story -- most already know about the choking game and it's important for parents to be warned. The parents of the boy who died this past Saturday asked the I-Team to tell this story. Phil and Elisabeth Piefer from Millbrae buried their son Friday. Dylan was just 14 years old.
"Very happy, full of life the day he died," said Dylan's mother, Elisabeth Piefer. "He was so happy that day, he cleaned his room up, I gave him $10 and he said, 'Thanks mom, I love you,' and that was the last I saw of him."
This past Saturday, Dylan told his parents he was heading to the park to meet friends. He climbed through a hole in the fence, walked the long path to the airport property that lines Highway 101 across from SFO. Just across the water is a popular meeting place; they call it "the fort."
Dylan was the first one there. His friends arrived to find him with a rope around his neck, attached to a tree about four feet from the ground.
"He was on his knees when they found him. There was no way that he was, you know, he could have got up," said Dylan's uncle, Kenny Piefer. "If his friends were there, they could have took the rope off him at least, if there was other people there with him."
"My friend Elisabeth came flying to my house screaming that her son was found dead over here," said family friend Christina Baugh.
San Mateo County sheriff's investigators are working the case as a suicide, but the coroner told the family it appeared to be something else.
"That a lot of children played the choking game and that's what it looked like it was," said Elisabeth Piefer.
The choking game has been around for years, but it's spreading because of online videos.
"This is like a how-to instructional video, how to do it, but be careful, don't kill yourself 'cause then it would suck if it's my fault," said the narrator in of these online videos.
There are many variations -- deep breaths and pressing on the chest, a headlock, using a rope, belt, bed sheet or curtain. The point is all the same -- cutting oxygen to the brain.
"I want to warn you, I think you lose like several billion brain cells each time you do it," said the video's narrator.
The rush comes as brain cells die. The twitching that's so common with someone who's passed out is actually a seizure. There's also the danger of broken bones, if no one is there to catch and a kid lands hard.
The danger of death grows exponentially when someone does this when they're alone.
"It's definitely not safe because you don't have a lot of control over what you're doing," says adolescent therapist Jennifer Tan.
Tan works with the Bay Area Center for Adolescents, and she has treated kids who've experimented with the choking game.
"It's maybe considered a safe way to experiment with a different state of mind because drugs aren't used," she said.
It's difficult to track just how many kids die from the choking game; they're often simply ruled a suicide.
While Dylan's investigation moves forward, his classmates and teachers at Mills High are being offered grief counseling. They've been writing their thoughts on a banner for him.
Even on this, the most painful of days, Dylan's parents want you to hear their story, hoping something good can come from such tragedy.
"And I have the biggest hole in my heart and I hope no other parent ever, ever has to go through this," said Dylan's mother. "It's heartbreaking over something just so silly."
Investigators are checking reports of an adult male seen heading into the trees with Dylan just before he died.
Those instructional videos are all over the Internet, in fact, parents' groups use them to explain the warning signs, such as marks on the neck, bloodshot eyes, or persistent headaches. I give the full rundown in a new I-Team Blog here.
If you have a tip for the I-Team, send us an e-mail here or call 1-888-40-I-TEAM.

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