A viral video is raising concerns in the Syosset Central School District.
The footage shows a student in a cage while a teacher zaps it with an electrical prod.
School officials say the video that was posted to Snapchat shows a science experiment that is done every year.
In a statement, the district said in part that the students volunteer to personally experience being protected inside a metal enclosure that harmlessly blocks any electric charge applied to it.
Retired Brentwood Superintendent Michael Cohen says he understands how the video could be perceived by some but believes the district officials handled it in right way.
"I don't see how anyone would have a problem to the activity or the reaction to it," Cohen says. "I think they deserve the utmost credit with the way they responded to it."
Zach Ritholtz, a senior at the school, says he gives credits to the teacher who was just trying to be creative.
"Just getting the kids out of the classroom and doing something else trying to, you know, the teaching being creative rather than sitting behind the desk, taking notes all day," Ritholtz says.
During the experiment, the physics teachers joked about mask-wearing, which the district says could be seen as in poor taste.