Parents stunned by reaction after publishing son’s suicide note

The suicide of a 20-year-old youth became headline news on Monday after his parents included the text of his suicide note in a newspaper death notice.


Tim Ribberink killed himself last week and left a note to his parents saying: ‘I have been teased, bullied and excluded my whole life’.
The death notice, which also featured a large photo of the boy, was published in the Twentsche Courant Tubantia newspaper and led to a storm of comment on social media sites and Twitter.
Local minister Marinus van den Berg, who is leading the youth’s funeral service, will on Tuesday make a statement on behalf of the family, who have been overwhelmed by public attention since the notice was published.
In the statement, the youth’s parents will outline their reasons for publishing the suicide note, RTL news said.
No evidence
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Windesheim hbo college where the youth was following a history teacher training course, said they were surprised by the note.
‘He was doing well here. He fitted in and his parents thought so as well,’ a spokesman told RTL news.
A spokesman for the youth’s secondary school also said they had no evidence he had been bullied during his Havo studies. ‘He was a nice boy who never had problems,’ a spokesman said.
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