Chinese media recently reported the shocking case of a 13-year-old daughter who was found by fishermen on a deserted island, where her parents had taken her as a bizarre form of re-education.

This weekend, police in Weihai City, China’s Shandong Province, were notified by local fishermen about the presence of a young girl on a small deserted island, about a kilometer from the mainland. The girl had allegedly approached them claiming that she had been taken to the island against her will by her parents, and begged them to take her back to shore. Upon reaching the island, police found the girl and her parents, and learned that their presence there was a strange form of teaching the 13-year-old girl about hardship and adversity.

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The girl’s parents explained that she was a rebellious and spoiled child who had dropped out of school and would barely come down from her room to eat. They felt that she was wasting her potential, so after trying to reason with her, they decided that it was time for desperate measures.

After talking with a survival expert who agreed to accompany them on their mission, the couple decided to take their 13-year-old daughter to a nearby deserted island to stimulate her potential by forcing her to survive in harsh conditions. Only things didn’t really go according to plan, as instead of trying to learn the abilities needed to survive, the girl snuck away when her parents weren’t paying attention and signaled some fishermen, begging them to come rescue her and take back to the mainland.

“I can’t stand it! They forced me to survive on this deserted island,” the girl allegedly told the fishermen. “We only have water and biscuits. They can’t even start a fire. Can you take me back to shore?”

After being found be the police, the girl’s parents initially refused to leave the island, arguing that they had come prepared with necessary supplies and even a survival expert, and insisting that they wanted to continue their strange re-education program. They had been on the island, and the father was already impressed that his girl had been able to find and communicate with the fishermen, when before she would barely say a word to them, let alone anyone else.

In the end, the family was persuaded by police to leave the island and return to their mainland home.