I Can't Carry That All Day': Middle Schooler Says She Was Forced to Haul Entire Contents of Her Locker as Punishment

Image source: WCSH-TV

The parents of a Kentucky middle schooler want answers after they say their daughter was forced to carry around the entire contents of her locker in her backpack as punishment.

"I've got marks on my back. That really hurts," 13-year-old Ashley Owens told WLEX-TV.

She told WLEX she confessed to accidentally erasing a student's name on the board from a list of kids who had talked in class at Powell County Middle School.

"It takes two seconds to write it back," she said. "She [the teacher] could've just wrote it back."

But instead, Ashley said, she was told to clean out her locker and put everything in her backpack. Her locker was taped shut, and she was told she'd have to carry everything around for the rest of the week.

Ashley's parents say she weighs 50 pounds, making the 20-pound backpack nearly half her weight. She switches classes six times a day.

"I can't carry that all day," Ashley said.

Her parents complained, but were told the principal had approved the punishment, according to WLEX. They were so incensed they took her out of school temporarily.

"I'm fed up with it," mother Stella Owens said. "I want something done. She's not doing it."