School apologises for forcing late child to eat lunch behind a screen

The six-year-old was reportedly late to school by one minute.

A school in the US was forced to apologise after a photo showing their method of punishing late children went viral.

Laura Hoover caused outrage online when she posted two photos showing what had happened to her six-year-old grandson when he was late to his elementary school.

Hunter was made to eat his lunch behind a screen, separated from the rest of his peers - with what appears to be a paper cup with the letter 'D' written on it nearby.

Pic via Facebook

In the Facebook post - which has been shared over 130,000 times - Laura writes that Hunter was "one minute late" due to his mother's car troubles.

She writes that it's not the first time the school have punished him in this way for what the school describes as 'chronic tardiness':

“His momma’s car sometimes doesn’t like to start right up. Sometimes he’s a couple of minutes late to school.

“They have done this to him 6 times for something that is out of this baby's control! They make a mockery of him in front of the other students! His mom found him there, crying, and took him home for the day.”

Pic via Facebook

After being inundated with complaints by phone and on social media, Lincoln Elementary School issued a statement saying they had revised their policy and that late children would now be made to do 'catch-up work' in a separate, supervised classroom.

Hunter's parents have received an apology from the school principal and have been reassured that it will not happen again.