COLORFUL EXCUSES FOR MISSING HOMEWORK.

• Position: Brief Article

"The dog ate it" isn't the most common excuse for not turning in homework anymore. In a national survey of 216 school counselors conducted by the American School Counselors Association in conjunction with Sylvan Learning Centers, Baltimore, Md., counselors shared their students' most creative excuses. While some responses ranged from the mundane "I forgot" to "I had baseball practice," the following are among the more creative excuses:

* "The paper I wrote my homework on erased itself."

* "We were looking for my dad in bars and I didn't have time."

* "I had a hemorrhoid flare-up."

* "There was a golf pro giving lessons and it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

* "Someone pushed my...