Endorsing Lying?

My soon-to-be 11 year old son brought home a new book today. He purchased it from the Scholastic Book 'catalog' that is distributed on a regular basis in thousands of classrooms across America every month or so. His new book is "A Boys Guide to Life, The Complete Instructions," (Written by kids for kids, from the "editors of Planet Dexter". This book bears the Scholastic Inc. Publishers information.

Doesn't this sound like a great book for a soon-to-be 11 year old ? It contains much data that a young gentleman in training might find useful. The chapters include topics such as "Money," "Social Skills and Graces," "Fixing and Making Things," "Safety, Hygiene and Grooming" and a few others. HOWEVER, in the chapter about "Social Skills and Graces" there is this:

"HOMEWORK - Making Excuses for Not Having Your Homework Done"

I do not find this appropriate and I am appalled that such a long-time publisher of quality books for our young people would include such a thing in one of their books. No, this does not seem to be an attempt at humor, it gives readers seven things to say as an excuse for not having their homework. Among these tips are:

"My baby brother drooled all over it. (This actually works, a teacher said so).

"Guest came for dinner last night and my mom had to clean the house really fast. She put it somewhere, but she can't remember where."

"We got last-minute tickets to see (check the newspaper for a game or show that night). I fell asleep in the car going home."

Am I off base here? Over-reacting? No, I don't plan to take this book away from my son, or tear out that page. Its his book. And, (his mother and I hope), he knows better than to try to pull any of the crap suggested in this book. But in a book that appears to contains so much good, useful information for soon-to-be young gentlemen, why do they suggest telling lies about homework ?

Thanks for reading my blog! As always, your comments are welcome!