A school has been forced to apologize after a dad complained that he received a "disgusting" gift that his daughter made.
As previously reported, the father was left shocked and outraged after his six-year-old daughter presented him with a Father's Day gift from Connolly Primary School that appeared to contain a deeply troubling message.
The innocent-looking gift, a paper dice, featured various suggestions for coping with a bad day such as "Banana - For the days when you have gone round the bend", "Frog - For the times when you need to jump to it", and: "Mintie - Take when you have experienced one of those 'moments'".
However, it took a sinister turn on one side, with an image of a bullet and the words: "Bullet - Take when all else fails."
Trent Howard, the concerned father, expressed his dismay, telling 9News: "To create this and distribute this, disgusting. If you've had enough, shoot yourself, what else does it say?"
He went on to emphasize that such dark humor had no place in any context, saying that his six-year-old daughter had been given the template that appeared to allude to suicide.
The family promptly lodged a complaint with Connolly Primary School, with Howard's wife Renea revealing that she believed the teacher intended the gift as a joke. She explained: "They wanted it to be funny, that was my interpretation of what the teacher had said to me - she was wanting to be funny. It wasn't funny."
Following the complaint, the school has been forced to apologize where they acknowledged a "serious lack of judgment".
Melesha Sands, the Deputy Director General of the Western Australia Department of Education said: "While I understand the activity related to confectionery, it was clearly not thought through and should never have happened. The school has since apologized to parents and will not be repeating this activity in the future.
"The principal has also apologized directly to a parent who put in a complaint. I'd like to also apologize to parents and reiterate this activity was not appropriate for students, which has been discussed with the school."
Psychologist Bailey Bosch weighed in on the issue, stressing the potential serious consequences for both the child and the parent. "Children can take things very literally, it can play on their minds," Bosch said. "And let's also remember that there are adults around that could be completely triggered by some words such as 'bullets,' 'death,' etc."
While the template may have been intended as a joke, it's definitely a highly inappropriate gift to have a six-year-old make and doesn't do much to promote positive mental health.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org
