The return of the—ugh—time-out box
What's the story about this latest apparent outbreak of malediction?
According to reports from multiple news organizations, the school board of the Salmon River Central School District of New York has opened an independent investigation 18 December 2025 of allegations of possible mistreatment of students in one or more classrooms where students with disabilities had been served. The board assigned its superintendent, Stanley Harper, to work from home, and it placed Allen Gravell (director of special education), Alison Benedict (principal of an elementary school), and Karrie Haverstock (elementary teacher) on administrative leave.
A statement entitled “Statement from the Salmon River Central School District Board of Education regarding allegations of student mistreatment” on the LEA’s Web site, begins with these paragraphs:
The Salmon River Central School District Board of Education has launched an investigation into the conduct of school administrators following allegations of student mistreatment in the district.
Earlier this week, the board was made aware of allegations from parents concerning restraint and seclusion in the form of wooden boxes used as calming stations at district schools.
The board has now launched an independent investigation to be conducted by a law firm beginning today, Thursday, Dec. 18, to objectively review the circumstances. The board is also cooperating with a New York State Department of Education (NYSED) investigation.
The school where the boxes (there may have been three) were located is one of two elementary buildings in the LEA. It is geographically surrounded by the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation and serves children from the ethnically Mohawk children.
On 16 December 2025, Jeff Chudzinski or North Country This Week reported the story, “Alleged ‘timeout box’ at Salmon River draws public outrage, district says device was never used: St. Regis Mohawk Tribal leaders say investigation underway.” Focusing on Mohawk Tribal leaders’ concerns, Mr. Chudzinski wrote,
St. Regis Mohawk Tribal leaders have confirmed an investigation has been launched regarding possible mistreatment of a special needs child at Salmon River School.
In a public statement issued by Tribal leaders, officials acknowledged they were aware of allegations of mistreatment, as well as “multiple ongoing investigations.”
Reporting for The Free Lance News on 18 December 2025, an unidentified writer posted, “Mohawk Child Allegedly Placed in Box by Public School Unleashes Tribe’s Outrage: The Speechless, Autistic Child Was Placed in a Padded, Wooden Box by School Officials on an Indian Reservation in Upstate New York, His Grandmother Says.”
An eight-year-old autistic and speechless Mohawk child was placed in a padded, wooden box in a public school on Indian land, his grandmother charged during an emotional school board meeting in upstate New York Wednesday night.
Local television station WWNY 7News covered the story 18 December 2025. Lexi Bruening and Diane Rutherford reported it a text story under the headline, “Salmon River educators placed on leave over allegations that students were locked in box,” and provided a video report, too:
Publishing on 20 December 2025 in the New York Times, Troy Closson wrote, “A ‘Timeout Box’ in an Elementary School Draws Outrage: ‘This is Not OK’: An upstate New York district, where most students are Native American, placed its superintendent on leave after images of a wooden box in a classroom spread on social media.” Here’s his lede:
The image from the elementary school was odd: a wooden box tucked in the corner of a classroom, tall and wide enough, it seemed, for a small child or two. But the next image, of the inside, was disturbing: bare walls and a padded floor.
The photos were posted to social media this week by a former member of a school board in upstate New York. She accused officials of building a “timeout box” for students who have disabilities — though families and officials remain in dispute about whether children were ever placed inside.
See also:
“Salmon River school admits to using wooden boxes as ‘timeouts’“by Richard Haller of North Country Public Radio.
WWNY staff report “Governor Hochul responds to Salmon River wooden box incident”
Comments
Putting children in windowless enclosures is wrong, a mistake, unnecessary—especially as a form of discipline. Whether the boxes are named “time out boxes,” “chill spaces,” or some other euphemisms, educators don’t need them. Seclusion and restraint have been discussed and debated and essentially dismissed as inappropriate practices for years (see Yell et al., 1995, for an orientation to the history). Government agencies, professional organizations, and scholars (Association for Behavior Analysis International, 2020; Council for Exceptional Children, 2020; Graves, 2014; US Department of Education. no date; Yell et al., 1995).
It is, to be sure, sometimes necessary to adopt formal efforts to eliminate problem behaviors. In a well designed and implemented classroom management program—one where the emphasis is on learning and success, where appropriate behavior is justly rewarded, where students and teachers are having fun—not all behavior problems will be eliminated. Some will. almost surely pop up, and educators will have to address them.
Efforts to reduce the frequency, intensity, or duration of a serious problem should begin with a functional behavior assessment and, even a formal behavior analysis. There are powerful and effective methods for reducing problem behavior that do not require the use of seclusion or restraint. The methods take some careful work, but practices such as differential reinforcement of other or incompatible behavior, systematic reduction of levels of a behavior, etc. have been shown to be beneficial repeatedly. Many standard behavior management textbooks have extensive treatments of such behavior-reduction procedures.
Researchers have examine a legitimate behavior reduction procedure often called “time out.” It is very effective provided it is used correctly. It must be focused on a very specific, objectively identified behavior (not an attitude) and must be implemented calmly and quickly each and every time that behavior occurs.1 It may but it does not require removing a child physically from a classroom not—note bene—placing her or him in a box or even sit in a corner wearing a pointy cap.. Its purpose is not to extract a confession from the student, “give the child time to collect his thoughts,” to “reflect on what she did.” It simply means that for a brief period (2 or a few minutes, perhaps) the student is ineligible to receive positive reinforcement. Obviously, then, to work well, time out must be used in an environment that is rich with reinforcement.
So, don’t waste school time and resources building boxes. Build smart management procedures.
References
Association for Behavior Analysis International. (2010). Statement on restraint and seclusion, 2010. Author. https://www.abainternational.org/about-us/policies-and-positions/restraint-and-seclusion,-2010.aspx
Council for Exceptional Children. (2020). Position on Restraint and Seclusion Procedures in School Settings. Author. https://exceptionalchildren.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/Restraint%20and%20Seclusion-2020.pdf
Graves, K. S. (2025). Restraint and seclusion: A review of practices and policy. Intervention in School and Clinic, 59(5), 347-353. https://doi.org/10.1177/10534512231179099
US Department of Education. (no date). Students with Disabilities and the Use of Restraint and Seclusion in K-12 Public Schools. Author. Available from https://www.ed.gov/sites/ed/files/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/20190725-students-with-disabilities-and-use-of-rs.pdf
Yell, M. L., Cline, D., & Bradley, R. (1995). Disciplining students with emotional and behavioral disorders: A legal update. Education and Treatment of Children, 299-308. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42899415
Footnote
In my classes for teachers, when I covered the use of TO, I told them, “If you have to use a well-designed and well-executed TO procedure more than three or four times before you see dramatic reductions in the target behavior, there’s something wrong with what you’re doing. Stop doing it.”