How to Avoid Getting in Trouble for Not Doing Your Homework
Tell the truth., Explain that you tried but didn’t understand the assignment., Be creative.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Tell the truth.
In most cases, being honest and direct is the best course of action.
It shows that you’re willing to own up and take responsibility and that you respect the teacher enough not to try to mislead them with a cooked-up story.
Explain why you didn’t do the homework--maybe you forgot about the assignment, got home late, fell asleep, etc.
Don’t sugarcoat your reason, but do use some discretion; if you didn’t do your homework because you were at an all-night kegger, keep your reason general (ie, “I didn’t get home until late”) rather than overly specific (ie, “I was too busy doing keg stands”).
Apologize.
After giving your reason, sincerely apologize.
Don’t gloss over this part--the sincerity of your apology will impact how likely your teacher is to want to help you.
Explain that it won’t happen again--and make sure it doesn’t.
Let your teacher know that this was a rare instance of you lapsing on a responsibility and that you’ll be careful that it doesn’t happen again.
And--this part is important--keep your word.
If you make forgetting your homework habitual, your teacher will not only stop believing your excuses, they’ll rapidly become less sympathetic to your apologies.
Ask for another day to finish the assignment.
The best case scenario here is that your teacher will grant you extra time to complete the assignment and won’t penalize you for turning it in past the original deadline.
More likely, though, your teacher will offer to let you turn in the assignment late, for partial credit.
Don’t gripe about or be ungrateful for partial-credit--it will make it less likely that your teacher will extend you a similar opportunity in the future. -
Step 2: Explain that you tried but didn’t understand the assignment.
This excuse has the virtue of making it seem like you at least tried to do the homework and that there’s a reasonable cause why you couldn’t finish.
Ask the teacher to help you understand the assignment and to let you have another chance at completing it.
This both buys you more time and has the added benefit of getting you one-on-one homework help as well. , If all else fails and you have to concoct a story, at least make it a good one.
If the story’s creative or amusing enough, your teacher might cut you some slack simply because you didn’t give them one of the same boring excuses they always hear.
For example, maybe it just so happened that your parents went out last night and left you with a family friend who turned out to be a clairvoyant and burned all of your homework because he looked into the future and saw that if he didn’t destroy it all your cat would rip your homework to shreds while you slept and you would breathe in a fatal amount of air-borne paper bits and choke to death. -
Step 3: Be creative.
Detailed Guide
In most cases, being honest and direct is the best course of action.
It shows that you’re willing to own up and take responsibility and that you respect the teacher enough not to try to mislead them with a cooked-up story.
Explain why you didn’t do the homework--maybe you forgot about the assignment, got home late, fell asleep, etc.
Don’t sugarcoat your reason, but do use some discretion; if you didn’t do your homework because you were at an all-night kegger, keep your reason general (ie, “I didn’t get home until late”) rather than overly specific (ie, “I was too busy doing keg stands”).
Apologize.
After giving your reason, sincerely apologize.
Don’t gloss over this part--the sincerity of your apology will impact how likely your teacher is to want to help you.
Explain that it won’t happen again--and make sure it doesn’t.
Let your teacher know that this was a rare instance of you lapsing on a responsibility and that you’ll be careful that it doesn’t happen again.
And--this part is important--keep your word.
If you make forgetting your homework habitual, your teacher will not only stop believing your excuses, they’ll rapidly become less sympathetic to your apologies.
Ask for another day to finish the assignment.
The best case scenario here is that your teacher will grant you extra time to complete the assignment and won’t penalize you for turning it in past the original deadline.
More likely, though, your teacher will offer to let you turn in the assignment late, for partial credit.
Don’t gripe about or be ungrateful for partial-credit--it will make it less likely that your teacher will extend you a similar opportunity in the future.
This excuse has the virtue of making it seem like you at least tried to do the homework and that there’s a reasonable cause why you couldn’t finish.
Ask the teacher to help you understand the assignment and to let you have another chance at completing it.
This both buys you more time and has the added benefit of getting you one-on-one homework help as well. , If all else fails and you have to concoct a story, at least make it a good one.
If the story’s creative or amusing enough, your teacher might cut you some slack simply because you didn’t give them one of the same boring excuses they always hear.
For example, maybe it just so happened that your parents went out last night and left you with a family friend who turned out to be a clairvoyant and burned all of your homework because he looked into the future and saw that if he didn’t destroy it all your cat would rip your homework to shreds while you slept and you would breathe in a fatal amount of air-borne paper bits and choke to death.
About the Author
Sharon Ross
Creates helpful guides on pet care to inspire and educate readers.
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