To speak to school about a game of Chubby Bunny?

[ChubbyBunny12]

NC for this as I’m not sure if I’m being a bit OTT here and want some perspective!
DS came home from school today and told me they had been playing Christmas party games, one of these was Chubby Bunny. For those of you who don’t know, it involves stuffing as many mallows as possible into your mouth and trying to say ‘chubby bunny’.
There has been at least one death in America of a child playing this game and the whole thing just seems like a very bad idea to me? AIBU to speak to school about this? I feel awful as the games were organised by volunteers (teachers were present) but I’m not sure it’s something I can let go without mentioning in case it happens again!

Better not drive your child to school then. Far more likely to result in death than a few marshmallows.

@ADogInTheManger

I've remembered! The paramedics did it in an episode of Chicago Fire!

@LaurieMarlow

Are you seriously trying to say that the need to drive equals the need to play this game?

Driving is the second highest cause of death in agre 5-14. Choking is the highest. I'm not sure of the difference in the actual numbers, but if you had 10 children play this game for every car journey taken worldwide, then the deaths from car accidents would look minuscule compared to the deaths for choking. Its a stupid comparison.

YANBU.
all my hcp friends were noticeably attentive to choking threats when we were out and about.
As a teacher or TA I would be relieved if someone mentioned this.

Are you seriously trying to say that the need to drive equals the need to play this game?

Obviously not, because I didn’t say that.

thatmustbenigel -he needs to go to school (and car is safer than walking g where we live!) but he doesn’t need to have multiple mallows stuffed in his mouth!

Please please speak to the school about this. Fortunately no one was harmed during the game but it's now set a precedent and children might play on their own. God how thick are the teachers at this school?

I've never heard of this game, but it sounds disgusting.

My worry would be that children might go home and play it unsupervised and choke.

Schools are supposed to model behaviour they would like children to learn....I don't think they'd be too impressed if kids shoved a load of cake in their mouth at lunchtime and tried to say chubby bunny.

Driving kills more than a million people globally a year.

This game has killed 2 people globally in 20 years.

Being up in arms about this game while blithely driving our kids to school everyday would indicate a flawed perception of risk.

For what it’s worth, I don’t think the game should be encouraged, but more because it’s disgusting than (very minimal) risk of of death.

I don't think it's a good idea for the school to encourage that game either, OP. I would tactfully raise it with them to ensure that the children knew not to play it when they were on their own!

@LaurieMarlow
It's like you're deliberately refusing to think critically.

Tens of millions of car journeys are taken every day. A million people die a year.

Play this game tend of millions of times a day. You'll have more than a million dead children a year.

Choking is the biggest risk to children. Teaching them a game where food is piled up against their throat is a good idea to you? You're saying that if you're willing to drive then you're willing to do that to your child?

Not unreasonable at all! There are so many other games to play. It may be deemed low risk but they don't report the almost choking to death and the fear that can bring. I've nearly choked to death and it's bloody scary! Be that parent. It's a stupid game. Pass the parcel is a much nicer all rounder!

I know 1 person who fell off from 2 steps, that left her paralysed and she died of complications less than 2 years later.

and I am sure you can find many statistics telling you how many people actually injure themselves or die in stairs.

You should write to the school to ban stairs. Forget marshmallows, stairs. Wake up people, stairs KILL!

I would absolutely speak to the school about this.

For context I do not say that lightly... I have spoken to my kids’ school just once in 5 years (so far!) about a safety issue. Some things need to be raised and this is one of them.

Babdoc explains it perfectly. Marshmallows are one of the things you really, really don’t want to be trying to fish out of someone’s airway.

It's like you're deliberately refusing to think critically.

OMG I choked laughing at that coming from you.

Yes reducing instances of risky activities reduces the instances of death/injury. Funny, I don’t see all the threads where people call to seriously reduce (incredibly risky) driving to lower the (significant) death/injury rates.

And we’re not talking about choking in general are we? We’re talking about a specific game that has resulted in 2 deaths in 20 years.

In situations like this ( ie should I say something to the school or not) I always ask myself which is worse- saying something and being mocked/ laughed at or saying nothing and a child dies ( or is injured). When people are judging risk, the likelihood of something happening has to be judged against the seriousness of the potential consequences.

@slashlover. Peoples kids are as precious to them when they’re 15 as much as they are when they’re 5. Choking can be a hazard wether you’re 5 or 15 or even 55. I really don’t see the relevance of the child’s age.

I’d be up at the school op. What on earth are they thinking. Surely that goes against all safe guarding. Mind you before I blame the school. Do the teachers actually know the kids are playing it. IFSWIM. Either way though parents need well must speak out.

Another anaesthetist who has dealt with a patient who choked on a marshmallow here, though fortunately my patient survived without permanent damage. It was one of the scariest situations I have been in professionally speaking though. Choking is always scary, even for those of us who deal with airway problems on a regular basis, but this was particularly awful. As Babdoc says, a half eaten marshmallow sticks to everything and is extremely difficult to shift. I would agree that a non expert trying to deal with a child who had choked on not one but a whole mouthful of sticky half chewed marshmallows would be very lucky to get it out, no matter how many times they have demonstrated the technique correctly on a doll on a first aid course. Real life is very different.
Life is a dangerous business and we cannot avoid all risks but this is just stupid. To cram a child's mouth full of a known high choking risk food and then get them over excited all in the name of "fun" is foolhardy.
PS @Lulualla - no, you definitely shouldn't try to push anything down someone's airway if you can't get it out. It will not clear the aiway and will almost certainly make it harder for a health care professional to deal with the situation.

Marshmallows, grapes & sausages are all huge risks - ask any paramedic!

I don’t like food being wasted or played with anyway, but this ‘game’ is utterly fucking stupid and I cannot believe a school has allowed it. Definitely ‘have a word’

A first aid trained person is highly unlikely to be able to dislodge a marshmallow - they’re as dangerous as grapes.

Anyone still eye rolling should read it re read babdocs post.

Though a friend who is a paramedic I know of a teenager who died due to a marshmallow - not playing this game, she just tried to swallow it whole and parents couldn’t dislodge it, nor the paramedics.

TBH i think youre overeacting a bit its just harmless fun i mean one or two deaths out of the millions of times this game has been played the school wont stop anyway because of one parents worry about choking x

I think it's awful too. I know of someone who choked to death on a marshmallow.
My 6 yr old sons teaching assistant gave them all a few little Christmas presents the other day which was lovely of her, but one was a hard lollipop which he gave to his little brother on our way home. I ended up taking it off him because it came off the stick. I didn't think it was the best idea from a teaching assistant tbh

It is possible to worry about more than one issues at a time. Also there are measures that can be taken to reduce the risk of driving. Hence all the threads on what's the safest car, car seats, seat belts, talk of dangerous drivers, speed limits etc. We do discuss those things on MN.

Also, driving is not uniformly dangerous across the globe. It is far more dangerous in some countries than others, usually developing nations where around 90% of road deaths occur often due to factors such as no driving test required, poor infrastructure, poorly maintained vehicles, poorly maintained roads, no real roads, lack of rules, people not following rules, increased use of motorcycles/mopeds, too many passengers, lack of crossings etc.

Queenoftheashes - one of my friends was at the hen do this happened at. She is in no way precious or a health & safety freak (& her profession is medical) but her kids (& the rest of us) are well aware the dangers this game causes. Marshmallows stick on damp surfaces - there is no way you can heimlich manoeuvre one out #gofigure.
ChubbyBunny12 ask school if they’d do it with whole grapes - you’d get a horrified reaction. And you’re more likely to dislodge a grape than marshmallows.
No YANBU.

'I personally know of...'. Yes, well, on that basis, who could possibly disagree.