How to Get Out of Doing Homework

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Last Updated: March 4, 2024 Fact Checked

Sometimes you just can't get it together and finish your homework. Maybe you had a concert or a game after school and you were too tired to think when you got home. Maybe you ran out of time, or you fell asleep early. Maybe you just had something way better to do! This article will give you ideas for how to get your parents off your back about doing homework and convince your teachers you have a perfectly good reason why you didn't do the assignment. Plus, learn techniques on how to make it look like you made an attempt at your assignment, but life, fate, or technology got in the way. Just don't make a habit of it, or your grades may suffer.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Making Excuses to Your Teacher

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1
Get to know your teacher first. You have to find that teacher who is not too strict, maybe a little oblivious, and forgiving. Get on their good side at the beginning of the year so they're more likely to trust you when you come to them with excuses later. Laugh at your teacher's corny jokes and smile and try to be a good student for the most part.
- Notice how your teacher reacts when other students forget their homework to gauge how much you can get away with.
- Notice if your teacher collects homework or usually just walks around and glances at your worksheet to make sure you did it.
- Try to get an idea of what your teacher likes. If they have pictures of their cat everywhere, you may be able to use that to your advantage later by telling them your cat is very sick or had to be put down and you were too devastated to finish the assignment.
- Remember that your teacher probably got into teaching because they are passionate about their subject. Participate in class as much as possible: if they believe you love history, too, they're probably more likely to be sympathetic later.
- Find out how much homework counts toward your final grade. If homework only accounts for 20% of your grade and you ace all your tests, projects, and class participation, you might be able to get by without doing homework and still get a decent grade.
2
Blame technology. Say your computer or internet wasn't working, or your printer broke, you couldn't find you device, your device wasn't working, the device wouldn't let you do the assignment (like if you had to upload something), your device was not charged, or you forgot the password to your device. Be aware that this is a common and pretty flimsy excuse, so your teacher may not buy it.
- If your teacher expects you to email them your assignment, ask them the next day if they got your email. When they say they didn't, act confused and explain that you definitely emailed them and that you can't believe it didn't go through. They probably can't check to see if you are lying and will probably give you an extension.
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3
Blame a family crisis. Try to pick something your teacher won't ask about too much or won't want to call your family to verify. Say your mom and dad are having marital problems. Get teary-eyed if you can do that on command.
- Claim the death of a family member. Make it someone close enough that it would affect you, but not so close that the teacher will find out about it. A great aunt or uncle works as they tend to be older. There is also no limit on the amount of great aunts and uncles you have, whereas with grandparents there is a limited number of times you can use that excuse. Plus, you don't want to tempt karma by saying your grandma died unexpectedly.
- Say that you are having a private family issue and you don't feel comfortable talking about it, but you can't do the homework.
- Tell your teacher your pet died. But be aware that if your teacher happens to be having a conversation with your parents and says something like "Sorry about the dog!" they may find out you were lying.
4
Blame your memory. Say you thought the assignment was due the next day or you wrote it down wrong. When the teacher says they are collecting your work, look worried and ask your classmates, "What homework?!" But be aware that "I forgot" excuses are very common and often not effective.
- Tell the teacher you were in the bathroom when they assigned the work and you completely missed that you had homework. However, if your teacher has a good memory or writes homework on the board or on a school website, there is a high chance this will not work.
5
Fake sick. You can either fake sick to stay home from school completely, or just go to the nurse's office before class and tell them you have a terrible stomachache, headache, or menstrual cramps (if applicable). Ask if you can lay down for the period.^{[1]
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- This works best if you are somebody who rarely gets sick(maybe once or twice a year) then you will be more trustworthy if you appear sick.
Discuss with them that your study habits aren't great and that you feel overwhelmed by the amount of work you are getting. The guidance counselor will offer you advice about how to manage your homework for the future, and can also speak to your teacher to extend the due date.
7
Be honest. Don't be cocky or blow your teacher off. Go to them before the class begins and tell them you simply couldn't get it done. Tell them you had too much work, you had to study for a huge exam, you were exhausted or feeling unwell, or you didn't understand the assignment. Show that you don't feel good about not doing your homework. They may give you an extension or tell you not to worry about it this time.
- If you do this too often your teacher will stop being sympathetic, so make sure it only happens once or twice.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Making It Look Like You Did Your Homework

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1
Make it look like you did the work if your teacher only glances at your homework. Put random but relevant-looking work (ex: 2+2= 23/7 Carry the four Multiply by two 7) and hope that they don't look too closely.
- If your teacher walks around the class checking for homework, but doesn't take it in, write your homework page and task at the top of some random notes you have for that class. If they're not attentive, they won't notice.
- If they are attentive, try to distract them by asking a question related to the subject or show them a word in the textbook you don't understand.
Many textbooks have all or half of the answers listed in the back of the book (especially math books). Your teacher may have found the worksheets or questions online, too, so search for the answers online.
3
Act like you did the homework, but forgot it at home. Search your bag thoroughly in front of the teacher before coming up empty handed. Say something like "I'm so sorry, my alarm didn't go off this morning and I was so late that I just shoved everything in my bag. I must have forgotten it."
- Say you must have left it on your desk/in the car/on the bus and ask if you can turn it in at the end of the day. Then you can quickly do the assignment during lunch.
- Be smart when pretending to be upset that you lost your homework. If you usually slack off and don't do your homework, it may seem odd to the teacher when you suddenly worry about not having your homework.
4
Get help from friends. Ask someone for the answers or to do your homework for you. You can make a deal with a friend that if they do your assignment this time, you'll get them back another time. Just remember that this can be considered cheating, and you could be in big trouble if you get caught.
- If you cheat on writing based homework, paraphrase it so your teacher can't tell that you cheated. Also, think about how you usually perform in class. If you don't usually do well in class on homework and tests, your teacher could get suspicious if you get all the answers right. So to be smart, get some answers wrong on purpose.
- Try asking one friend for answers to questions #1 and #2, then another friend for the answers to questions #3 and #4, and so on until the assignment is complete.
- Assemble a study group and let them work out all the answers.
- If you have a friend who owes you a favor, tell them this is how they can repay their debt.
5
Destroy the assignment if it's on a CD or flash drive. Crack the CD in the case before class then carry a lot of stuff to the class and fall or drop everything as you walk into class. Pick up your broken CD. Your teacher will be sympathetic as the entire thing just happened in front of their eyes.
- Bring in a blank flash drive and swear to your teacher you saved it to the drive and you don't know what happened.
6
Purposely corrupt the file. You can open a program in one program and then forcefully save it as a word document.^{[2]
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Research source} When your teacher tries to open the document, it will show an error message. (Be aware, though, that some teachers are catching onto this trick and will give you a zero instead!)
- Go into File Explorer and find the file you want to make corrupt. Right click over the file and select 'Open With...', then select Notepad. Once the file opens in Notepad you should see a really bizarre document with gibberish. Click anywhere within the document and type something random in it, disturbing the flow. After this just save and submit. When your teacher opens it, it will show up an error.
- Do not select "use application as default" when selecting Notepad after File Explorer step or else all word documents (.docx) will automatically in Notepad showing gibberish.
- Create a blank image in Paint and save it in .bmp format. After that, forcefully change its format into .doc (right-click and hit Properties), and change the title to the name of your homework assignment. Now, when you try to open the file in any text viewing program, it will show up as a broken file. Send it to the teacher, and if they ask you the next day, just say sorry about this inconvenience and promise to send it this evening. Now, you have an extra day to complete your homework.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Convincing Your Parents

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Say that you need to work on the computer. You could be on the computer telling your parents that you're doing your homework, and when they walk away, all you have to do is open a new tab on the window and go do whatever you want to do. Remember to switch back to doing your homework when the parent comes back.
- So your parents check your history? Easy. If you have the Google Chrome browser, you can use Incognito mode. This will not track your history at all. Press ctrl+shift+N at the same time to open an Incognito tab. Remember to close all Incognito tabs before you go back to doing your homework.
- Remember ctrl + w closes a window with one tab without prompt, so it is the perfect way without downloading Firefox and certain add-ons to use the computer without parent's knowing anything of your exploits.
If they ask to see it, say you left it in your locker so you wouldn't bring it home and forget to bring it back to school the next day. Or you can show them some old notes or old homework from your classes and pretend that it is your currently assigned, already completed homework. This will work if your parents have not already seen those assignments or they are not stamped or signed by a teacher. If they are, say that your teacher allowed you to turn in your homework and get it graded a little early. Be aware that most teachers don't grade assignments early and this excuse is sometimes unbelievable.
Leave the house with your backpack and text books. If you do go to a friend's house, play video games or just hang out the whole time. You can also go hang out at the mall or somewhere else, but be aware your parents could catch you!

Community Q&A

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Is it okay to leave a few questions unanswered when turning in homework?

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Yes, but you should try to do as many questions as possible, even if you aren't sure of the answers. This is especially true if your homework is graded.

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I was absent for a few days and have no idea what we're doing in class and I can't come in for help. The internet doesn't help and I can't look up the answers online. What do I do?

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If you're able to get in touch with any of your classmates to ask about what you missed, do that. Otherwise, just approach your teacher before class (get there early if possible) and tell him/her that you were unable to get the assignments you miss and ask for an extension. Assuming you don't miss class all the time, he/she will probably be understanding.

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How do I dodge a teacher whose work I haven't done?

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It would be extremely difficult to do this without skipping school. Find a way to get the work at home and play sick for a day to finish the assignment.

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Tips

Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

Try to sound very stressed about not finishing your homework. Try to only skip homework when you really need to. It might be obvious that you're not trying if you never do it.
Try to be honest when you get caught. If you lie and get caught, you might be in bigger trouble.

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Warnings

Remember: in most cases, it is unlikely your teacher will excuse you from doing the homework altogether, even if these tactics work. Go into it thinking they will give you an extension and you will have time to catch up on your work without it impacting your grade.

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Homework is there to help you. In the long run, not doing homework will impact not just your report card but your future.

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Avoid lame and common excuses. These excuses have no effect, so don't even try to use them. Avoid "I forgot" and "My dog ate my homework" kind of excuses. Using long, boring excuses may make the teacher just dismiss it and tell you to turn it in tomorrow.

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