HIGH LIFE : Excuses for Not Doing Homework: Here Are Some Corkers

Every now and then, homework doesn’t get done. Either there is not enough time, you forget or you just plain don’t feel like doing it. But you can’t say that to your teacher when he or she asks for it the next day, so Hot Topics wonders: “What is the most creative excuse you have ever used for not turning in a homework assignment?”

“My dog ate my homework; it wasn’t funny though, because my dog really did eat it.”

Becky Williams, 16, junior, Bethel Baptist

“I had to go to a million places.”

Kristen Hales, 14, freshman, Brea-Olinda

“The workers at the pencil factory were on strike, so I didn’t have anything to write with. Or there was a power outage at our house only, so I couldn’t see anything.”

Tom Breen, 16, sophomore, Brea-Olinda

“I left it on the seat of my car. The sun beat upon my paper for hours, thus fading the ink, making it impossible to read.”

Jason Wilkey, 16, junior, Brea-Olinda

“I put it on my desk and there was a sudden draft. It blew out of the window. I went outside and chased it for half a mile, but it got stuck in a tree. So I climbed up the 20-foot tree and was just about to grab it when it blew out and it landed in a pothole. That very day the city was filling the pothole with cement.”

Molly Shen, 14, freshman, Esperanza

“I was talking to my other teacher about how great you were when the teacher ripped it up because I didn’t say how great she was.”

Helen Ji, 14, freshman, Esperanza

“My homework was on the table and an earthquake caused the shelf to fall and blow the paper into the fish tank.”

Scott Schellhase, 14, freshman, Esperanza

“I was in an accident and gave the officer my homework paper to take down the insurance information.”

Derek Pritchett, 16, junior, Esperanza

“My little sister ate half of it and the other half blew away on the way to school.”

Joe Lauer, 17, junior, Estancia

“On the way to school, it fell into a giant pile of dung.”

Neil King, 18, senior, Estancia

“My mom wouldn’t let me do it.”

John Lichtenberger, 18, junior, Heritage

“I tried, but I couldn’t understand it.”

Yukie Oda, 18, senior, Heritage

“It flew out my car window.”

Janet Evans, 16, junior, Kennedy

“My dog ate it.”

Craig Roah, 17, junior, Kennedy

“I had to pick up my grandfather from the airport.”

Derek Chao, 18, senior, Kennedy

“I was sick all last night. I’m still sick, but I came to school anyway, because I know your class is so important.”

Priya Singh, 17, senior, Kennedy

“I was possessed by Elvis.”

Simon Kingston, 17, senior, Laguna Hills

“I don’t know where it is. I had it in my folder. Someone stole it.”

Roger Chen, 18, senior, Laguna Hills

“I was driving to school and I had my paper on the dashboard so it wouldn’t get messed up, when my brother turned on the vent. So, before I knew it, it flew out the window. I stopped to get it, and a policeman gave me a ticket. My paper went into the sewer, so I drove to the beach to get it but it went into the ocean. I would have got it, but I was going to be late to school. If you want, I’ll go to the beach this afternoon to get it.”

Carl Schneebeck, 16, junior, Orange

“I remember saying an assignment went against my religious beliefs.”

Tom Kovac, 17, senior, Orange

“Actually, this one’s true. I went to New York and left my homework at my aunt’s house by mistake. So she sent it from Brooklyn to my grandmother’s in Long Island. It was still in the mail when I left, so my grandmother sent it Federal Express to me.”

Marni Eton, 18, senior, Orange

“I said I broke out in hives and was sick, so I couldn’t do it.”

Debbie Dodson, 18, senior, Orange

“I didn’t know we had homework.”

Michelle Roberts, 15, sophomore, San Clemente

“I left my folder at home.”

Jennifer Bethell, 16, sophomore, San Clemente

“It is in my locker and I can’t get it open.”

Dana Hinton, 16, junior, San Clemente

“I had to work.”

Amy Cash, 17, junior, San Clemente

“I sprained my hand the night before.”

George Rivero, 18, senior, Santa Ana

“My dog did the homework; I ate it.”

David Layden, 18, senior, Santa Ana

“I’m not done. . . . It always shocks the teacher that someone is honest.”

Chris Kahau, 16, junior Southern California Christian

“I was walking home and I tripped. I looked down and there was a baby. I took it home, but little did I know that I was being followed. I put my homework in the baby’s basket so I wouldn’t drop it. I went to sleep and about midnight I heard a noise. The baby was gone and so was my homework.”

Natalie Carter, 15, freshman, Southern California Christian

“I thought you said it wasn’t due until tomorrow, so I left it at home.”

Kristi White, 17, junior, Southern California Christian

“Page 241? I thought you said 242. Can I do it over?”

Jill McCall, 15, sophomore, Southern California Christian

“My sister’s goldfish died last night, and I had to comfort her in her time of need.”

Sarah Turner, 16, junior, Southern California Christian

“The gravitational pull of the moon pulled my homework into the sky.”

Jason Sutherland, 17, senior, Trabuco Hills

“My mom took the car to the airport and my report was in her car.”

Greg Hughes, 17, junior, Trabuco Hills

“I folded my homework into a paper plane and it got hijacked.”

Adam Keen, 16, sophomore, Trabuco Hills

“I left it in the car after my mom dropped me off.”

Carl Robinson, 17, senior, Tustin

“I said, ‘We had family problems last weekend so I couldn’t do my homework,’ when actually the problem was my car wouldn’t start.”

Brandon Elrod, 16, junior, Valencia

“If the assignment is not worth many points, I would tell my teacher that I left it in my car and that I would give it to him or her after school. If the assignment is worth many points, I would just take a day off and turn in the work the next day, telling him or her that either I had to go to court for traffic violations or I was on my death bed the whole day.”

Yong Kim, 17, junior, Valencia

“My homework is at home on my desk and I forgot it because I was so engrossed in studying and trying to grasp the concept so I could excel on the test.”

Krista Roa, 16, junior, Valencia

“It was my mom’s birthday.”

Kim Morehouse, 16, junior, Villa Park

“It was so easy, I didn’t feel like taking the time to write it down.”

Kevin Bussell, 17, senior, Villa Park

“The baby ate it.”

Nancy Kumamoto, 16, junior, Villa Park

“It was the fifth annual Vanna White Wheel of Fortune Telethon. I was a volunteer accepting calls, therefore, prohibiting me to do my work.”

Mark Howery, 17, senior, Villa Park

“It’s against my religion.”

Heather Wiltshire, 15, freshman, Western

“I rewrote the assignment and brought the wrong one to school with me.”

Stephanie Estlow, 15, sophomore, Western

“I was baby-sitting and a little girl ripped it all up.”

Charity Coleman, 15, sophomore, Western

“I spilled water all over it and the ink ran.”

Sheila Baughman, 15, sophomore, Western