3 years after Tim's death, as Foundation T.I.M. we have put our documentary online. In order to warn parents that it can happen to anyone, we chose to tell the personal story. Who was Tim? What happened that terrible night? What world opened up to us then?
With the film, we hope that parents will (and will continue to) talk to their children about what they encounter on the internet. Young people are continuously challenged to participate in challenges that can also be dangerous. The choking game is one of the best known examples of this.
Discuss it with your child! This seems like a simple advice. But what if you as a parent don't know what is going on on the internet? And what if your kids don't want to tell themselves because they notice it's not quite ok? Also for the making of this documentary we noticed with that they did not want to tell about their experiences. The whole subject seems to be in a taboo atmosphere.
So yes it takes some effort to talk about this in a casual and non-judgmental way. But the risks are really there. Unfortunately, we experienced that ourselves. We never expected this from Tim either. We too would have liked to be informed.
Watch the documentary and please share it with other parents as much as possible. Hopefully we can prevent new victims this way!
Special thanks to Marc Waltman & Renate de Wit (filmmakers - www.boegbeeldfilms.com) and also Jonathan Trapman (cameraman - www.trapman.camera) for developing this beautiful and valuable documentary. Thank you for the countless hours you have spent on it and the careful way you have handled it!
Geert, Anita and Anna Reynders - Foundation T.I.M.