‘Help me’: prank boy in China throws SOS notes from window in bid to escape doing homework, chided by police for crying wolf

The story of a boy in China who tried to get out of doing his homework by throwing SOS notes out of his window has trended on mainland social media.

The unidentified youngster, whose age was not disclosed, from Zhejiang province in eastern China, was given a stern talking to by police when they discovered that his apparent cries for help were bogus, according to a report by Toutiao News.

In a video clip, a neighbour can be seen handing over the notes to police officers as she tries to explain what is going on.

The incident occurred at about 3pm on September 3 when an unnamed neighbour of the boy saw a note fluttering down from the window of a building.

As soon as she picked it up, she saw it was a written message calling for help.

A few seconds later, another note floated down from the same window bearing a similar message to the first.

“Help me,” the boy wrote in the notes.

The worried neighbour called the police who rushed to the scene soon.

Apart from the notes, the neighbour recalled seeing a child crying next to the same window from which the notes emanated.

“I was afraid something bad had happened,” the neighbour says in the clip.

Asked whether she had noticed anything strange about the family living in that flat, all she could remember was often seeing a brother and sister having fun together downstairs.

When the police located the boy, he admitted the notes were a prank and that he was simply trying to avoid doing his homework.

As well as giving the boy a stern talking to, officers also made sure he understood the true meaning and seriousness of the SOS concept.

The story startled many people on mainland social media.

One person said: “This is a real-life version of the boy who cried wolf.”

“I must show this negative example to my children,” said another.

China’s highly competitive education system means school work often imposes anxiety and pressure on children who sometimes come up with excuses to slack.

In April this year, a little boy in southwestern China was filmed kneeling in front of his grandmother’s tomb and praying for good grades at school and no homework.

In September last year, an 11-year-old boy in eastern China who pretended to be allergic to homework by shedding tears went viral.