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TORONTO - Some 79,000 Ontario students are playing a dangerous "choking game" which has killed at least 82 kids in the United States and has sent at least 72 Canadian kids to hospital, a new survey found.

The 2007 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health survey, by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, found about seven per cent of kids in grades seven to 12 have played the so-called "choking game" where someone intentionally chokes themselves or is choked by someone else to the point of almost passing out. The lack of oxygen induces a brief state of euphoria or a high.

Dr. David Wolfe, director of CAMH's Centre for Prevention Science, said teens have always been fascinated with "altered states" but said parents need to educate themselves.

"Activities such as the choking game are not new, but it is important that parents are aware of these behaviours and are prepared to speak with their children about the dangers of these and other risky activities," he said in a release.

At least 82 kids have died in the United States playing the game in the last decade while 74 Canadian kids have been sent to hospital.

One 12-year-old Barrie-area boy died in April 2005, after choking himself on a computer cord. He learned the game he called "black out" at summer camp. The game is also known as space monkey, the scarf game, and the pass-out game, among other names.