Edward....I am glad you are asking before you take this step. Ferrets have a "bad rap" already we don't need to add to that if we can help it. I think yours is basically a good idea, teaching children the truth about ferrets before their minds are contaminated by the "highly exaggerated and often untrue" stories about problems with ferrets. A critical issue though is that a persons perception of an incident, and the truth, are sometimes very different. Ferrets get excited when they play, their way of playing is to gently (in most cases) nip fingers or whatever is close enough to "play with". You and I know this is their way of playing, but someone who has never seen this behavior before may be frightened by it and if the ferret touches their hand or fingers or whatever, they may think the ferret BIT them. If a person THINKS they have been bitten, that is all it takes to bring in authorities and rabies becomes a grave concern in the minds of, in this case, the children, parents, school officials, and the authorities. The ferret, at least where I live, will be taken from you, KILLED, and tested for rabies. If you have a certificate proving the ferret has been vaccinated against rabies, you may be able to get the people involved to let it go, or you may be able to have the ferret quarantined for a time, rather than KILLED. Consider this scenario: you take the ferret into the classroom, excitement builds as everyone is asking questions and playing with and petting the ferret, then someone decides to make a big deal and draw attention to himself by yelling "OOOH, that thing bit me!" ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, you would not believe the ensuing chain reaction from those few words, regardless of whether the person was just trying to be a big shot, get attention, or the ferret tried to play with him/her. Think about it. Please check the laws in your city and state regarding this BEFORE you take the ferret to the classroom. It is great to educate, but there is NO justification for endangering the life of a ferret or any other animal. Don't think you are safe because you "know the ferret wouldn't bite", it doesn't really matter if the ferret actually bit or not, all that is needed is someone to "say" the ferret bit them, and you will have no further say-so in what happens to the animal, unless you have a rabies certificate, and sometimes that isn't even enough. There was a case some time back that I read about where a ferret would have been killed if it had not "disappeared" before the authorities could snatch it up. There was no mark, no blood, or anything else on the person claiming to have been bitten, but that did not matter. I took ferrets alot of places to give them some excitement and educate people about them. People will stop to pet the ferret and ask questions. But after I read about the incident I mentioned above, they go NOWHERE that we are likely to run into PEOPLE. Sad isn't it! --Trish Ferrets First Rescue and Shelter [Posted in FML issue 1459]