After arguing with his mother about overdue homework, a 10-year-old boy in China ran away from home and straight to the local police station to complain and beg to be put into an orphanage.

Chinese media recently reported a bizarre incident that took place in Chongqing. CCTV footage shows a young boy storming into the Huixing Police Station in Yubei and being approached by two policemen. They start chatting and the 10-year-old boy tells them that he had been reprimanded by his mother for not completing his homework, so he left the family home to join an orphanage. After a bit of convincing work by the officers, the boy gave them his parents’ contact information, so the police contacted his mother who confirmed their argument about the overdue homework. However, she never imagined that her son would run away from home to join an orphanage because of it.

Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash

“My mom scolded me every day for not doing my homework and left the house,” the 10-year-old complained. “She just nags me to study every day. I’d rather go to an orphanage.”

After calming the boy down, the police called his father to pick him up, and even though he was reluctant to return home, they manged to persuade him that it was the right choice, much better than going to an orphanage, that’s for sure.

The news and CCTV footage went viral in China last week, where people were shocked by the boy’s reaction. Some saw it as a sign of a lazy generation of spoiled children, while others simply applauded the way the police calmed the boy down and ultimately solved the problem.