'Choking Game' A Deadly Trend

Teens Sometimes Suffocate Selves Seeking High; Problem Growing

(CBS)  "Sometimes," observes child psychologist Dr. Lawrence Shapiro, "kids will choke each other. Sometimes, they'll get something like a tie and pull on each other's neck. Sometimes, they'll hyperventilate and have another child push them to literally knock the breath out of them."

Even though you may not have heard of "The Choking Game," Kauffman points out, there's a good chance your kids have.

After Gabe's death, a concerned teacher at his middle school took an informal poll. Half of the eighth graders were familiar with the game.

Documented cases are few.

A New Hampshire boy died from the game in 2001. And this spring, there were two separate incidents in Idaho.

Ten-year-old Dalton Eby was found hanging from a tree. Thirteen-year-old Chelsea Dunn apparently hanged herself in her closet. Security cameras at her middle school had earlier caught students playing the game.

"I can't express, seriously, how irate I am," bristles Laura Cooper, a friend of the Dunn family, "that they knew, that the school knew this was going on, and didn't do anything."

Gabe's mother also feels more needs to be done to warn parents. She searched the Internet for information and found almost nothing. So she's started her own Web site.

"I miss him. So much," says Pacette. "And I wish to God I would have known the warning signs, because I knew something was wrong, I knew something wasn't right with Gabe."