1.   Hysterical parents were calling the school for details of the accident.

2.   He had apparently sustained leg and head injuries, and was coming in, complete with hysterical parents.

3.   But what the jurors heard, she argues, was the embellished fantasies of children whose hysterical parents could not accept that they had not been abused.

4.   Imagese of hysterical parents, baby-faced suspects and schoolhouse carnage have dominated the news for much of this year.