A Dundee secondary school is locking children out of the building during break times following a spate of fights.
Teachers at Menzieshill High School began barring younger pupils from the school building last week.
Only S5 and S6 pupils are allowed in for the duration of the 15-minute morning interval and the hour-long lunch break.
Concerned mother Susan Coates (36), a switchboard operator at Ninewells Hospital who has two sons at the school, branded the move “nonsense”.
She said: “They are not allowed in to use the toilets in dinner time or break time. To me this is a piece of nonsense.”
Mrs Coates said teachers had made the school off-limits after a series of fights.
Younger pupils with packed lunches are allowed to eat in the dining room, and to use the toilets in the last 10 minutes of lunchtime before heading back to class.
Councillor Tom Ferguson said he found it hard to believe that barring pupils from the building was an effective form of punishment for fighting.
He said: “I don’t think it sounds like the most suitable punishment. There should be an educational process to show them a positive way of behaving.”
Mrs Coates’ children are able to go home for their lunch but she said that others are being left “needing to do the toilet”.
She added: “Other people don’t live so close and aren’t able to go home on their dinner breaks and use the toilets.
“There has been an ongoing problem with fighting and littering in the school, but surely this is against their human rights?”
Her husband Mark (38), who works at Michelin, added: “If the kids are needing the toilet they should be allowed in. They’ve got the weather OK for now but what if we have a winter like we did last year and they’re stuck outside in the freezing cold?”
A spokesman for Dundee City Council said: “The school has taken appropriate action following incidents at the secondary.”
Mr Ferguson said he had quizzed director of education Michael Wood about the issue and had now received a response, which said: “This is a decision taken by the head teacher taken following issues around the litter and fighting inside the school during lunchtime.
“She has discussed this with the pupils and asked for their support in improving the situation. The sanction of not allowing pupils in at lunchtime is not permanent.”