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Going Too Far

Rock star Alice Cooper is one of the new breed of shock-entertainers. One of Alice's weird, way-out routines is a mock hanging.

Recently, a coroner's jury in Calgary, Canada, investigating the death of David Coombes, 14, ruled that David's death was accidental. Simultaneously the jury recommended that all programs which depict simulated hangings or other violent acts be banned from Canadian television.

Young David, it seems, had watched Alice Cooper perform his mock hanging on a program telecast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., had then attempted to reproduce the stunt and had killed himself accidentally in the process.

Dr. John Butt, a local pathologist, told the coroner's jury that kids were experimenting with hanging for fun or kicks, and Dr. W. W. Wilson, the coroner, said the youngsters should be told that "such goings-on can be lethal."

David's father testified at the inquest that both David and his sister had watched the Alice Cooper TV program and that after the show they attended a party where many of the kids tried to imitate the mock hanging routine.