lapse in judgement

STEVENSVILLE, Montana (AP) -- About 90 elementary school students in Montana have started a series of rabies shots after a parent let them touch a dead bat that was later confirmed to be diseased.

The mother of two students gave presentations in five classrooms and allowed the kids to touch the dead bat last week. She offered each student who touched the bat a sanitary wipe.

The exposed students will receive six shots of anti-rabies vaccine.

Stevensville Elementary School officials say they will use liability insurance to pay up to $70,000 for the exposed children to be vaccinated for rabies. The overall cost could surpass $150,000.

The school has since set a policy requiring that anyone visiting the school obtain a visitor pass. [origin]

maybe they should also set a "no touching dead animals" policy. i can't imagine purposely letting a child (or adult) touch a dead animal...any dead animal! not to mention a child that is not your own. where were the teachers? a voice of reason? and what will getting a visitors pass help? i've gotten visitors passes many times at schools and they never asked me if i had a dead bat with me.

if i did see a dead animal, i would use this argument from a previous blog to discourage the touching of said animal.