Some parents of Lake County students claim the schools are going overboard when it comes to raising money for area charities.

Parents of students at Lost Lake Elementary School say the children were threatened with a trip to the principal's office if they didn't collect donations.

Dani Page said she couldn't believe what a teacher told her 6-year-old son about the upcoming Jump Rope for Heart event.

"He said if I don't participate, I'll have to go to the principal's office," Page said, referring to the message her son relayed. "I said, 'That's crazy, come on.'"

Page said she heard similar complaints from other parents.

The information handouts students receive have facts about heart disease being the No. 1 killer of all Americans and where the money that is collected goes. The back side is full of prizes for different levels of donations.

Page said it is "ridiculous" that educators are losing sight of the real reason fundraisers are conducted: "To raise awareness for a certain cause or raise money for research," she said. "Instead, we are teaching our children it's all about what you can get."

Automated phone calls to parents twice a week for the last month haven't helped matters for struggling parents, Page said.

"They are like, 'Don't forget your money,'" she said. "It's frustrating. And if you are a less fortunate family, it shames you even worse."

Sherri Owens, a spokeswoman for Lake County Schools, said automated phone calls "is one of the many ways we keep parents informed about what's happening in the schools."

"The Code of Student Conduct states that every student has the fundamental right to be 'treated with dignity and respect,'" Owens said when asked about parents' claims that students were being bullied into collecting donations.

Alise Adams, the youth market fundraising director for the American Heart Association, said all students are able to participate in their jump rope events whether they collect donations or not.

Adams said the organization guides school districts on how to collect money, but it's up to the school districts to execute the fundraisers.