KEY POINTS:
'The dog ate my homework' is probably the all-time classic excuse for shiftless schoolkids.
But a new British survey by pixmania.com shows that technology is tipping the family hound off the top excuse spot.
It found that the average teacher gets 15 homework excuses a week, with an increasing amount blaming malfunctioning technology.
The 1000 teachers survey had seen a 30 per cent increase of tech-related excuses in the last 12 months.
Top 5 tech homework excuses:
* My computer crashed and I lost it
* I finished my homework but then deleted it by accident
* I could not print it out
* My internet was down so I couldn't do any research
* I lost my laptop
Other tech excuses:
* My dad's computer was hacked by the Russians and they stole my homework
* A burglar stole my printed-out homework along with the computer
* The PC exploded when our dog went to the toilet on it
* I accidentally tipped a bottle of cider over the computer and it broke
