Kids as young as 11-years-old are dying from new drug trends they found on the Internet. 
Grand Island leaders said the trends are showing up locally and they warned parents Tuesday night at the Grand Theatre in Grand Island.  

Heather Tjaden from the Central Nebraska Council on Alcoholism and Addiction blames YouTube. Kids are posting videos choking each other, inhaling paint thinner, and mixing over the counter drugs--called pharm parties.  And this is happening with middle schoolers. 

Tuesday night, the Council wanted to get that message out to parents. 

Forget the cigarettes and six-packs. Omaha drug expert Chuck Matson said overall drug use in Nebraska schools is down.  But middle schoolers are finding a different kind of high.

Tjaden showed video from YouTube of the choking game. "They have someone come up behind them and choke them until they pass out," she explained.

What the video didn't show is that sometimes passing out leads to seizures and death if enough oxygen is cut off from the brain.

Tjaden said the Internet is also responsible for a rise in inhalant use and mixing prescription drugs to get high. 

"Inhalant use, especially in our middle school age category, we're seeing an increase in use
and abuse of inhalants," Matson said.  He attributes that to Internet and YouTube videos.

The Central Nebraska Council on Alcoholism has battled drug problems in the Grand Island high schools for 17 years, but now they're targeting the middle schools. They received a grant from the Heartland United Way to form a Middle School Youth Congress. The Council and middle school teachers chose 85 middle school students from all the Grand Island schools to form the Congress.  They will have a day-long retreat Wednesday to learn how to avoid new drug trends, how to deal with peer pressure, and develop leadership skills to help their friends make good decisions.

Barr Middle School 6th grader Mckenzie Fyfe was one student selected to the new Middle School Youth Congress. She's unaware of the choking game and pharm parties, but said inhalant use happens all the time.

"They inhale paint in art class, and inhale sharpie markers. They do it in school and after school, when the teacher's not looking. Sometimes they do it in the hallway or the bathrooms," she said. "It's just not things we should be doing at twelve-years-old."

High school leaders will help the 85 kids selected to the Middle School Youth Congress on Wednesday.

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