Catherine Shuttleworth
Sep 17, 2023
9News
A father has been left "disgusted" after his daughter brought a Father's Day gift home from school that "promotes suicide".
Trent Howard's six-year-old daughter coloured in a pre-printed activity dice at school, with each side offering an option claimed to cheer dads up when they are in a bad mood.
Some suggestions on the dice included having a "Sherbie" - a type of sweet. The dice suggested taking it "when you have lost all your 'fizz'." Another suggestion includes having a banana "for the days when you have 'gone round the bend'.
But the dice left Howard furious after one suggestion read "Bullet - Take when all else fails." The text was accompanied by a bullet coloured in by his daughter.
"To create this, and distribute this, disgusting," he told 9News. "'If you've had enough, shoot yourself,' what else [could that be interpreted to] say."
His wife had contacted the school to let them know how upset they were by the dice. "They wanted to be funny, that was my interpretation of what the teacher had said to me," she shared. "It wasn't funny."
The Department of Education told 9News that the activity was "clearly not though through" and "showed a serious lack in judgement".
The school has also apologised to parents.
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