OOPS: School Tells All Parents Their Children Are Absent

A student absence notification call that accidentally went out to every family of students at a middle school in West Tennessee has caused a panic.

The automated phone call usually goes out at 9 a.m. each weekday from Martin Middle School, but only to those parents whose kids haven't shown up for school. On Wednesday, the phone call went to parents of all 475 students at the school.

The school's principal, Nate Holmes, said that about 20 people came to the school as a result of the call, but dozens of worries parents called after receiving the message. The school hurriedly made an "our bad" call, alerting parents to the mistake.

Holmes said the new automated phone system this year isn't as "user friendly" as the old one.