Short lived craze for hyperventilation in the playground. Came to an abrupt halt when two kids cracked their heads open by fainting all too easily and landing rather painfully on concrete.

(ed: Had an interesting note from 'Randal' who says the following):

your entry on the FAINTING GAME is incredibly irresponsible. this fad has not passed- it is as common as ever, perhaps more than ever before. there have been numerous deaths in the past year due to this 'game.' please take responsibility for the information on your site, and rectify this situation, perhaps even taking steps to draw attention to this deadly, trendy 'pastime,' drawing attention to your error, and the fact that this is such an on-going problem... (ed: I have asked 'Randal' to send me some urls where this phenomenon has been reported... but I've not received any *yet*) Oddly enough... a year or so later... we've received this feedback and url from 'Kate' (reported verbatim) though to be fair this seems to be a different thing to the game we initially started off with. In the 'choking game' something is tightened around the neck rather than kids just holding your breath or breathing as rapidly as possible until they faint.:

Anyway, Kate says:

You want feedback that the Fainting Game has NOT passed as a fad? How does a victims list dating back to 1973 with at least 210 victims work? As of today, 25 of those victims occurring in the year 2006. It's here and it's taking lives because of the lack of awareness and education to the deadliness of this activity. Save a child's life! Educate yourself and those around you

http://www.ChokingGameInformation.com