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It's just media bullshit made up to sell papers.
Not quite, but the media does like to get a hold of it and run with it every now and then. I used to be a reporter and a colleague did a big investigative piece on it.
A kid in our area had gone from playing 'space monkey' to choking himself with a belt. He fucked up and hung himself. Now his family are crusading against it with plastic bracelets and the whole shebang.
We did something like this when I was 13. It didn't work when I tried it. Kids are dumb and will do stupid things to get a rush. I think most people my age (34) have heard of this.
The thing to remember about reporters is that most of them were the squarest kids you ever knew. Now they're grown ups and every time they discover people doing something unusual or unsavory they're all OMG!! WTF!! Basically, reporters are just dorks with big mouths and good writing skills (keep this in mind re: MMA coverage.)
Another time we got video tape of a high school assault. One kid Grabbed another from behind in an RNC, choked him out and threw him down the stairs. The anchor shrieked "OMG, a sleeper hold!"
I said "Looks like a rear-naked choke to me." The kid had it fully sunk in, with the elbow under the chin.
She said "What? Looks like a sleeper hold to me. Those kids watch too much pro wrestling!"
This was during the Ultimate Fighter boom, MMA had just been sanctioned in our area and the kid was wearing some sort of Affliction/gothic barf shirt. I thought about it for a second and said "You're right. Definitely a sleeper hold. Fucking pro-wrestling!"