14 DAY TRIAL // Parkersburg High School, in West Virginia, is getting the press' attention over a teacher's treatment of a student.
The boy with Asperger's syndrome was acting out in class, so the teacher decided to inflict the punishment of putting him inside a "bad kid fort."
Parents Beth Dean and Jeff Richards claim that the situation could have been dealt with differently.
"Instead of sending him out of the room or any other myriad of options, she fashioned a large cardboard box and placed the box around his seat, completely enclosing him, in front of 30 of his peers," they say.
Their 15-year-old son suffers from an autism spectrum disorder that leaves him highly-functionable, compared to kids suffering from autism. However, the condition is characterized by issues with social interaction.
"This did not help, and destroyed the years of counseling and encouragement we have provided to make sure he has a good self-image," his parents complain.
Her son had insisted for a while that the box existed. His mother was convinced when another student photographed the box in a hallway and sent her the picture. When the photos reached Facebook, the school board admitted to the gravity of the situation.
Even so, Principal Pam Goots defends the teacher in question, explaining she only meant to calm him down.
"She was attempting to deal with a difficult situation in class," Goots said, according to a report by I Science Times.
She plans to ask the Wood County Board of Education for more training to deal with this specific type of behavior.
"We put teachers in these situations where they have not had a lot of training. [...] She was doing the best with the skill set she had," Goots stated.