Mom Reports Public School After Her Son Attends Traditional Field Trip To Creationist-Themed Zoo

Aug 11, 2023 by apost team

A seemingly ordinary second-grade public school field trip took an unexpected turn for one concerned mother, Megan, when she discovered the true nature of the destination of her son's class trip. When she realized it was a creationist-themed zoo, she reported the school to the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), an advocacy group that keeps the separation of the state and church in check in public school education.

Megan's action resulted in the end of the school's tradition of visiting the creationist-themed zoo, but she also caused an upset with other families and members of the community, including her own parents.

In a video confession uploaded on TikTok on July 1, 2023, Megan said that there was a witchhunt for the identity of the person who told the FFRF when her son was still in second grade. However, after her son was in high school, Megan felt that it was time to fess up and admit that she was the reason for the end of the "illegal practices in our small town school system," as she wrote in the caption.

She went on to detail in the video, which has gained over half a million views, that she had "never shared publicly" what she did until this TikTok revelation. Her own mother, who called the squealer an atheist, was not even aware it was Megan.

"This happened when my son was in second grade," Megan began. Megan said that the field trip, intended to be an exciting day out for young students and their chaperones, quickly took an unsettling twist as she noticed the presence of creationist information in the zoo's lobby. This type of information, which suggests that the Earth was divinely created rather than evolving through natural processes, stood in stark contrast to the scientific consensus on evolution.

The mother described "red flags" and her initial shock upon seeing posters within the zoo premises advocating for the idea that the Earth is only 6,000 years old, as per certain religious beliefs. She also revealed that the zoo promoted the Bible as an accurate historical record. The revelation left her deeply upset, especially considering that neither she nor her other parents had been informed that the zoo was affiliated with creationist ideologies.

Megan's frustrations did not end with this incident alone. She recounted another experience earlier that year when her son was selected to deliver the morning announcements at school. The school administration had highlighted the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and required students to recite the pledge with this emphasis. 

Megan perceived these actions as an unconstitutional promotion of religious beliefs within a public institution. Determined to address the issue, Megan reached out to the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The organization swiftly responded by drafting a letter to the school, outlining the concerns and asserting that such practices were illegal and violated the constitutional principle of religious neutrality in public education.

In response to FFRF's intervention, the school was required to discontinue visits to the creationist-themed zoo and cease distributing announcements that emphasized religious content. However, Megan's journey was not without its challenges. Fearing backlash from her small, religiously conservative town, she chose to remain anonymous in her actions.

"I was pretty naive at this point about how public schools work in the Bible Belt," Meghan said and implied that she remained anonymous for years because the complaint blew up and she started to worry for the safety of her kids. 

"If they were older, I probably would not have stayed anonymous," Meghan clarified. "And that's why I feel I can share this now."

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What would you have done if you were in Megan’s shoes? Let us know your thoughts, and be sure to pass this along to your family and friends.