Keyboard spray claims teen’s life
Aria Doherty was an honor student at Nobel Middle School in California. She was home alone on Monday, March 18, 2013 when she took a can of computer keyboard spray and inhaled enough to end her life. She was found on her bed by her older sister with the can taped to her mouth.
The 14-year-old had no history of drug or inhalant abuse. Her grieving parents have spoken out about the dangers of household products and the need for educating our youth about these dangers. Her father stated that Aria had started writing her first novel and her future plans included becoming a surgeon.
“These are substances that are poison,” school counselor Kezia Miller said. “They’re toxic and they’re being ingested.” Long-term effects of inhalants include damage to the kidneys, liver and brain. Short-term dangers include heart problems. It’s possible the computer cleaner caused cardiac arrest or the teen asphyxiated. An autopsy is pending.
The school district plans to offer an inhalant education program to all students. With or without a formal program on the subject, families need to discuss the inherent dangers of all chemicals available to their kids. Children and teenagers are risk-takers and accept challenges all too readily. Little thought is given to the small percent of accidents that result from sniffing or consuming foreign substances.
Check out our post on other harmful and lethal substances despite being “legal”, easy to access or just the new thing to consume/ingest at parties.
This post was written by Judge Tom. Judge Tom is the founder and moderator of AsktheJudge.info. He is a retired juvenile judge and spent 23 years on the bench. He has written several books for lawyers and judges as well as teens and parents including the recently published 'Teen Cyberbullying Investigated' (Free Spirit Publishing). When he's not answering teens' questions, Judge Tom can be found hiking, traveling and reading.
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