I'm not exactly understanding why it matters. If someone is comfortable to send then they should. If they're not then they shouldn't. No reason to have to defend your choice, its your decision.
This is what people seem to be missing. You don't live in a bubble, and neither does anyone else. Every action you take has the potential to affect those around you. Leaving the health issues aside, can you not see how extremely detrimental this can be to the school and the entire community on a legal/governmental level if it goes south?
When dealing with a wild animal in a zoo, there are rules and regulations in place to keep you safe and the animal performing the way it should. If you break those rules and provoke the animal, you will get attacked. While being attacked, there are actions you can take to make the animal lose interest, ot you can keep on provoking the animal to encourage the continuation of the attack. After the attack, you can sue the zoo. While you are being attacked, blaming the animal or the zoo system won't help you.
By all means, keep provoking the animal.