A deadly practice called "The Choking Game" may have claimed its first victim in Allegheny County, and the 13-year-old Mt. Lebanon boy's parents want school officials and parents to go on the offensive to keep other children from dying.

"My son was taken away," said the boy's father, who asked that his son's name not be used. "They feel like nothing can happen to them."

The boy died at his home Monday, and his parents believe it was a result of the Choking Game, where youngsters deprive their brains of oxygen by wrapping their throats with belts or ropes to get a quick high when blood flow returns.

The Allegheny County medical examiner has ruled the Mt. Lebanon boy's cause of death as "asphyxiation by hanging" but is waiting for results of the Mt. Lebanon police investigation and toxicology test results before ruling if it was an accident or suicide.

The parents are adamant that their son did not kill himself.

"I think educating the kids about the terrors of it is what you need to do," the boy's father said. "They need to be taught in school about it."

The death of a 12-year-old Connecticut boy last week also has been connected to the game.

Mt. Lebanon Police Chief Thomas A. Ogden Jr. would not say if officers were investigating the game but said the department has ruled out foul play and there was no evidence of suicide. The boy's father said police took his son's cell phone and computer to see if there were clues to the death there.

The Mt. Lebanon School District has not addressed the cause of death officially, although a letter sent home to parents explained that a child died, told parents to watch for signs of anxiety in their children and said counselors would be available.

The boy, an eighth-grader at Jefferson Middle School, was in his bedroom and supposed to be doing his homework, when his mother found him blue and unresponsive on the floor, his father said. He had shown no signs of depression, nor had he left a note or indicated any mental problems, his father said.

He would not specify how they deduced that it was the Choking Game, but said it was "how my wife found him."

The boy's father, a pediatrician, has been talking to community members about the cause of death. He spoke to the crowd at the funeral on Wednesday and warned other parents to talk to their children about the dangers of the game.

While kids often have heard of the game, parents may not have.

"I'm a pediatrician. I never heard of it," he said. "The parents don't believe it because it is such an unbelievable thing. And if they ask the kids, they'll deny it."

He believes his son fell in with the wrong group of kids, some of whom he believes were bigger risk-takers than his son. He said at the funeral that his son's grades were slipping. In a phone interview, he said he looked for evidence of drug or alcohol use but found none.

Police declined to say whether drugs were involved.

"He was just really, really unlucky," the father said. He said he didn't believe this was the first time his son had played the game, though he couldn't say why he had that impression.

The family has four other children.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published a story about the game in December and called Mt. Lebanon school officials at the time and were told it was not a problem among youngsters there.

However, a week later, in a memo to a PTA president, Mellon Middle School Principal Vincent Barone warned that students in the district might be playing the game and asked the PTA to talk to parents to heighten their awareness.

District spokeswoman Cissy Bowman said the school district will present a panel discussion for parents on risky behavior such as suicide, the Choking Game and other practices. That date has not been set.

Chris King, an emergency medicine physician at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, has never treated anyone for injuries from the game but said nationwide deaths are about 400 to 500 a year. But he said many others are branded suicide and never discovered.

Diane Snyder, executive director of Outreach Teen & Family Services Inc., a counseling center in Mt. Lebanon, said she did not know how widespread the game is. "Most kids seem to be aware of it," she said, "which is frightening to me."

A typical age range for the game is 9 to 15 and it's often done to get the rush of drugs without using illegal substances, she said.

Signs parents should look for are: reports of headaches, marks on the neck, raspy breath, red eyes and belts or bags tied in knots. They should also be aware of children who suddenly seek privacy and they should also monitor Web sites their children visit. Key words to watch for include "pass out," "black out" and "space monkey."

Dr. King said a child can die after only five minutes if the brain is deprived of oxygen, leaving little time for even paramedics to help.

Parents also should teach their children how to say no to the game, using specific examples, Ms. Snyder said. If they are pressured to play, they could retort with: "No thanks. I need all the brain cells I have," or "I don't do that."

The parents of the boy who died want people to remember the sweet side of their child.

"We'd drop him off at school and he'd say 'I love you,' " said the boy's father. But he said if his son played the game, any child could do it."If I only knew," he said.

First Published: February 10, 2006, 5:00 a.m.