Two little girls die while filming themselves; they were playing the scarf game, a deadly game still too popular with our children.
The parents of two American girls who died after self-asphyxiation have filed a complaint against TikTok. They accuse the platform’s algorithm of tricking their respective children into participating in the dangerous “headscarf game”, a “challenge” that encourages participants to suffocate to fainting.
One child a month dies from the consequences of stupid games which do not however lose their popularity: two thirds are familiar with them, and one in ten have already played them. Death for 30 seconds of hypothetical pleasure.
According to the Association of Parents of Children Accidented by Strangulation, APEAS, two out of three children are familiar with these games learned on school benches; one in four say they have attended one of these experiments, the principle of which is simple and medically frightening. We start by inducing a deep and rapid breathing; for example, some leg curls and deep breaths. Then we block the breathing, by compressing the arteries or the veins of the neck using scarves or cords… A voluntary strangulation, with the aim of causing fainting from lack of oxygen. This translates, at the level of the brain, into sensations, some of which are considered pleasant: visual hallucinations, an impression of hovering above the ground with the displacement of surrounding objects. one day they fainted: buzzing, ringing in the ears, gongs at the temples, blurred vision, heaviness in the legs… preceding loss of consciousness. The vital risk then becomes real with often convulsions, as in an epileptic fit. If the strangulation is immediately stopped and specialized help such as Samu arrives quickly, the child can be saved hoping that the brain has not suffered irreparably from this lack of oxygen.
Teenagers have always liked to experiment with their own limits, but today we are witnessing a rejuvenation of adolescent behavior which now arrives in the classes of primary and nursery schools… The deaths concerned boys and girls, from 4 to 20 years old, from all social levels. These “Games”, as their names indicate, are initially considered as an amusement likely to provide “thrills”, especially not a kind of provocation or call for help; it is rarely a desire to transgress and exceptionally violent or suicidal behavior.
82% had heard of it before the 6th ; 10% take action, whether under pressure from a group or a reading; it can also be a film, an incentive website, or a video transmitted by a mobile phone… Unfortunately sometimes alone, most often the same scenario: after having tested the “Game” with several people, often in the playgrounds, the he child is tempted to renew the experience alone, with the help of some link. The fatal risk is then much greater because there is no one to give the alert. Difficult for parents to suspect this practice; if the child undertook several experiments before the accident, we can find marks, brown marks, excoriations around the neck; it is the only possible prevention. There are more general signs which can unfortunately have other origins but which are the consequence of gambling: haemorrhages in the eyes; decreased visual acuity, pain, ringing and buzzing in the ears; severe headaches, dizziness or unexplained malaise. In case of doubt, it is up to the parents to open the dialogue, because doctors do not always think about it when faced with these signs. APEAS offers a site perfectly adapted to dialogue because prevention depends above all on appropriate information: www.jeudufoulard.com