The stunt they performed in the name of fun -- choking one another until they lose consciousness momentarily -- could have killed a group of students from New Town Secondary School.

STOMPer auditionqueen had alerted STOMP to the students' antics last weekend. The website carried the story on Sunday (Sep 25), with stills from the two videos sent in by
the STOMPer, showing several students choking one another for fun, while they recorded the stunt on video using their mobile phone cameras.

The students were seen having their necks and chests pressed against a wall at a void deck, cutting off oxygen to the brain.

According to a follow-up story in The New Paper today (Sep 27), this dangerous 'game' allows the person being choked to reach a brief state of euphoria.

Experts say it could lead to permanent brain damage.

In a 2008 report, the US Centers or Disease Control and Prevention recorded about 82 choking-game deaths among people aged between six years old and 19 years old, from 1995 to 2007.

At least three students from the video have been identified. One of the students is a girl, and the youngest participant is only in Secondary 2.

New Town Secondary School principal, Ms Wong Yu Yuh, said:

"The school was informed of the incident by staff who saw the article on STOMP. We have identified the students involved and are counselling them."

One teacher said she had seen videos of her students playing the choking game on Facebook late last year.

She said: "In the video, there are two students. One of them presses hard on the stomach of the friend from behind.

"The other friend then faints. They appear to be enjoying it because, in the video that I saw, they are laughing after they wake up."

Although she felt that the act was dangerous, she said she ignored it and did not take action against the students because no one was injured.

STOMPer ChokeHolder, who read the story in STOMP, said:

"We all have done silly things when we were young, but that doesn't mean we should take these things lightly.

"This is more than just silly -- people can die doing this.

"It's a good thing that STOMP has managed to bring this craze to the attention of teachers and health experts, so that they can take the necessary steps to educate students on why they shouldn't be doing such acts."