WILMINGTON, Del. — Some Lombardy Elementary School parents are fuming after the school accidentally sent out a sarcastic "Hurt Feelings Report" that makes fun of "whiners."
The one-page form was included as an attachment to an email that was supposed to be about activities on "Exercise Your Brain Day," an upcoming school event.
The form includes places for "Whiner's Name" and "Type of Whine Used," as well as questions like "Did you require a 'tissue' for tears" and "I want my mommy."
It is structured like a bullying report "to assist whiners in documenting hurt feelings" and offers that "an EMS team will be dispatched to soak your socks in coal oil to prevent ants from crawling up your legs and eating their way up your candy ass."
The parent who forwarded the letter to The News Journal, who didn't want to be identified, called it "completely offensive and mocks children who are bullied in schools."
Brandywine School District spokeswoman Alexis Andrianopoulos on Wednesday said a staff member accidentally put the wrong attachment in a regular email the school uses to communicate with parents. She said the satirical form came from "a source external to the school" and said it was "not an official document of Lombardy Elementary or the Brandywine School District."
"This was an embarrassing mistake, but it was just that – a mistake," Andrianopoulos said in an email. "It should not have happened, and we apologize for the error."
Schools all over the country have taken steps over the past few years to reduce bullying in schools.
In Delaware, the state created a position for a bullying ombudsman who helps families handle incidents in their schools. School websites are supposed to post the contact info for that person prominently on their websites.
State leaders have also pressured schools to do a better job informing parents when bullying incidents occur.
In 2012, new laws went into place that put more responsibility with schools for battling cyberbullying and strengthened requirements for reporting incidents to parents and the state.
