Wesley Walker and his mother Vicky
A mother feared she had been handed a suicide note after being handed a "goodbye" letter her son had been asked to write by his school.
Wesley Walker, 14, wrote an emotional farewell to his distraught mother as part of a creative writing class where pupils were told to imagine they had a terminal illness.
The hand-written letter included lines such as "thank you for giving me life" and "I know I have been a pain at the best of times but I am with Nan and Granddad now".
His mother Vicky said: "He handed it to me one evening and then just went upstairs to bed.
"I really felt like I was going to find him hanging from his bed and maybe he felt he couldn't take any more.
"I spoke to him and he said it was something they were asked to do at school, I felt it to be really sick."
Wesley, who attends The Discovery Academy school in Stoke-on-Trent, also made references to his own funeral, saying he wanted everyone to wear bright colours to remember his personality.
He ended the letter by saying, "Please be strong for me", signing off with six kisses and a heart.
Wesley said pupils were told to write a letter as if they had a terminal illness and only had a few hours to live.
He said: "It felt normal because it was a lesson where we do creative writing."
The Discovery Academy has apologised for causing any "distress".
A spokesperson said the exercise was part of an "expressive art" lesson and pupils were asked to say a "special thank you".
They also confirmed Wesley showed the letter to a teacher and that pupils were told to take them home.
Vicki said: "I just don't think schools should be asking children to write things like this especially when it can be seen as a suicide note, I don't agree with it."
If you are affected by any of these issues, contact The Samaritans for help on 08457 90 90 90.
