text: We all joke about how bad school dinners are but a secondary school in China takes this age old gripe to another level. In protest at their 'horrible' school meals, high school students in north east China's Jilin province are being forced to the sidewalk everyday to eat their lunch. With teachers banning packed lunches and erecting barbed wire and metal sheeting to prevent smuggling, the students' only option is to leave school grounds to eat everyday, the People's Daily Online reports. A group of students eat their lunch together at a local street vendor near the school premises . Left, a group of students eat their lunch while sitting on the sidewalk. Right, they make their way back to class after being forced to leave the school grounds to eat . Pictures of large groups of students sitting on the kerb eating their lunch have spread rapidly across Wechat, China's version of Whatsapp. According to students, their school banned all pre-packed lunches and cut their lunch break from one hour to 30 minutes, forcing students to eat their lunch outside on the street. Students claim food cooked in the school canteen is simply too horrible to eat, and it is so bad that at one point the canteen even closed down. The school has resorted to drastic measures to keep out students who may try to smuggle in food by putting up barbed wire and metal sheeting to block off the back entrance. The school canteen also fought back by only serving staff - but they are continuing to sell lunch boxes at 10 yuan a piece which the school recommends the students buy. And in a further effort to make eating outside of the school more difficult, street vendors are banned from operating outside of its gates. The images attracted thousands of comments on various Chinese websites. One person, from Jiangsu, said the schools were 'only after money'. Others also questioned those who were in charge of the greatly-despised canteen, including the school's headmaster, who was branded 'shameless'. The school has banned students from bringing food onto the premises and has even erected barbed wire and metal sheeting to prevent smuggling at its back entrance .
target: Students at school in China pictured eating their lunches on the sidewalk .
  They say they are protesting the high school's 'disgusting' canteen meals .
  The school in Jilin province banned students from bringing their own food .
  Teachers have erected barbed wire and metal sheets to prevent smuggling .