- We found out that teenagers have some pretty innovative ways to try and get away with things, from blaming their star sign to ‘my dog at my homework’
- This week’s question: If you could run away from one responsibility in your life, what would it be, and why?
What is the worst excuse you have ever heard? Photo: Shutterstock This week’s question: If you could run away from one responsibility in your life, what would it be, and why?
To take part, drop us a line via this form or email us at [email protected] by 3pm on April 10. Tell us your name, age and school.
Claire Siu Yi-qiao, 13, King Ling College: The worst excuse I have ever heard is related to horoscopes. After my brother received his score sheet, my father asked him why the scores were so low. To answer that, my brother said, “Because my horoscope for that day was not good, it showed just two stars in my academic fortune.” My father felt helpless when he heard this answer. I admire my brother’s courage to use this excuse.
Peony Poon Ching-lam, 13, Sha Tin Methodist College: The worst excuse I have heard is “my cat is sick.” I once asked my friend to join me for shopping one day, but she was half an hour late. When I asked her why she was late, she told me that her cat was sick. This angered me because she doesn’t have a pet cat.
Jason Wong Ka-chung, 16, Pui Kiu College: During the pandemic, my class had an online assignment to complete. My friend did not complete the task even after the deadline passed. He told the teacher that he forgot to bring the assignment back home and denied the fact that he had simply procrastinated. The excuse was so silly that the teacher did not give him a chance to resubmit the assignment but graded him with zero marks directly.
Chris Mak Tsz-chun, 14, King Ling College: My schoolmate once tried to fake being sick to avoid taking a test at school. He phoned me and said, “The school food yesterday was poisonous. I feel unwell. I will stay home today.” Interestingly, everyone else had the same school lunch, but only he got “food poisoning.” I could also hear him jogging throughout the call. He was clearly robust and did not get food poisoning. What an absurd excuse.
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Fong Hei-chun, 15, Leung Shek Chee College: The worst excuse I’ve ever heard is when someone says, “Oops, I forgot!” It’s like they’re trying to avoid taking responsibility for their actions. However, using this excuse shows that they don’t care about being responsible, respectful, or putting in any effort. It’s a sneaky way to get away with their mistakes.
Winnie Zhu Hai-yong, 16, TWGHs Li Ka Shing College: I have heard of people often saying that they cannot find something. Instead of continuing to look for the object elsewhere, they stop searching and irresponsibly offload their work to others. However, others can find it easily. It is hateful that not only are they not fulfilling their responsibilities, but they are also making others’ workloads heavier. They don’t even put in minimal effort to find the object.
Chan Pak-to, 12, La Salle College: The worst excuse I have ever heard is that, “I was too lazy to do it”. In class I sometimes notice a few classmates fail to hand in their homework on time. Their excuses are always the same, saying that they are too lazy to do their homework. In my opinion, being lazy is an unacceptable excuse but your own erroneous choice, so you should bear the consequences of your mistakes.
Emma Hung Tin-lam, 12, Immaculate Heart of Mary College: I have heard many strange and questionable excuses, but one that stands out as particularly obviously fake is “My dog ate my homework.” This classic excuse is often used by students who claim that their pets destroyed their assignments. While it may occasionally be true, it has been used so frequently as a cover-up for not completing assignments that it has become widely regarded as a joke and is often accused of being untrue without proof that says otherwise.
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Xenia So Sze-ching, 13, Pope Paul VI College: The worst excuse I have ever heard is, “Give me one more minute.” However, it always takes longer than one minute; sometimes, it will even take longer than 30 minutes, which is wildly exaggerated. So when people say that, I know they will take a long time.
Angel Chun Ching-yee, 13, Christian Alliance S C Chan Memorial College: Once, I told my friends to do the project in the afternoon, and they agreed. However, one of them didn’t show up, and her excuse was that she needed to do homework. But we had no homework that day, and I saw her in the shopping centre. I was very mad at her. Every time I invited her, she used this excuse. So we are not friends any more because she never kept her promise.