They are games adolescents shouldn't play. Now the Sherman Police Department is out to warn parents and their children about the dangers of them. Ryan Loyd has today's Safe Family report on the choking game.

Children are faced with so much peer pressure. That's why parents, school officials, police officers and community leaders tell them it's okay to say no, and if an activity is taking place that shouldn't, they should speak up. Now the Sherman Police Department is speaking up about a serious issue facing kids today-- the choking game.

Sherman police Sgt. Bruce Dawsey says this game is being played by children who aren't doing drugs but by those that seek an alternative to drugs.

“In our area, kids are playing it, and they’re choking each other out is what they’re doing, and they are dying.”

This group includes mostly boys and girls between the ages of 9 to 16. They are academic-oriented students who participate in sports and have goals for themselves.

According to the GASP campaign, which stands for Games Adolescents Shouldn't Play, it's estimated that as many as 1,000 young people die in the United States by "playing" some form of this deadly game.

“They get addicted to this, they’re having a friend to it with them, and then they start doing this at home,” Sgt. Dawsey says.

Police say to make sure you understand what this is, how you can detect signs someone you know is playing it, and what you can do to stop it.

“If they see where ropes have been tied on the bedposts or on the drawers, if they see any kind of abrasions around their neck, or you can see in their eye where maybe blood vessels have burst, they may have been experimenting with this game,” Sgt. Dawsey says.

For more information, check http://www.stop-the-choking-game.com/en/home.asp