Skipping School Bug

[Pam]

Hi Schipperke.  This has already been addressed in another thread called Skipping School Bug.  You can read more details there and I'll merge your topic into the existing one so everything is in the same place.  Basically, it's a bug that I thought had been fixed.  Are you patched up to the most current update from EA?

[Edit:  I also moved this topic to the Miscellaneous Help board.  It was on the World Adventures Board, which wasn't the best place for it.]

[Schipperke]

Hi Pam,
Thanks for telling me about the Skipping School Bug.  I thought I remembered reading something about this but couldn't find it again.  I am patched up to the current game update.  What's funny about this is that the child is on the honour roll, even though he's hardly ever at school.

[AriaGirl77]

That's so odd!  I was having this problem a couple patches ago, but so far it seems like it's fixed.  *knock on wood*  So strange that others are still having this problem.

[simfulicious]

The first child in my BBII skipped school the first day...when I hit go to school, he got the icon that said he was blocked, something was in his way.  I ended up getting him to class with like 15 minutes left of the day.  This hasn't happened to me since then.

[Chelkey]

My Sim children and teens are now getting wishes to skip school that I don't recall seeing prior to last patch. Maybe the school skipping is something new or maybe I just was fortunate enough to never have kids that wanted to skip up until recently?? Or maybe my other kids got the school skipping wish before the last patch and I just happened to over look it?

In any event, if the kids are wishing to skip school, my guess is that them actually being able to go ahead and do that would happen. And it could be random, as parents really never know when the kid may try skipping school. Just because I see my real life teens get on the bus every morning doesn't mean they will attend every single class that day.  Maybe EA put something in with this in mind?

Lisa

[Pam]

It's possible, Chelkey, but the skipping school wish has been around since the game was first released.  I think this skipping school we're seeing is a bug because the kids won't stay in class even when you give the command.

[Schipperke]

So if it is some kind of bug that keeps the child from staying in school, is there anything that can be done about it?  Personally, I don't really care if he's in school or not, but I would sure hate for him to be scooped up by the social worker for not being there.  In this same game, the mother and child are now in China (dealing with the school issue by avoiding it) and I would like him to go fishing, but he can't seem to buy any bait or anything else at the merchants.  Is this also a bug?  I know children can go shopping at home so I would think he should also be able to buy things at the travel locations.  If he can't buy bait or harvest plants, he's going to have a hard time catching fish!

[Pam]

So if it is some kind of bug that keeps the child from staying in school, is there anything that can be done about it?  Personally, I don't really care if he's in school or not, but I would sure hate for him to be scooped up by the social worker for not being there.

There's really nothing you can do that I'm aware of if you're already patched up to the latest update.  It will eventually resolve itself when the child ages up.  It will probably only happen in that game file, so whenever you start a new game, hopefully the problem won't present itself.  When it happened to me, the social worker did not come.  I think it has to get much worse than a skipping school bug for the kids to be taken away.  Also, as a last resort, if the child does poorly in school and you don't get to choose the trait when he ages up, you can just use the testing cheats and change the bad trait to what you would have chosen.  That's my best advice on how to work around the problem.

In this same game, the mother and child are now in China (dealing with the school issue by avoiding it) and I would like him to go fishing, but he can't seem to buy any bait or anything else at the merchants.  Is this also a bug?  I know children can go shopping at home so I would think he should also be able to buy things at the travel locations.  If he can't buy bait or harvest plants, he's going to have a hard time catching fish!

It's not a bug.  Children can't do anything when traveling.  No adventures, no shopping.  You can have the mother purchase the bait and then just move it over to the child's inventory (click the upper left corner of the item and drag it to the face of the child on the left of the screen).  If you have a laptop computer, the child can use it for writing or playing games.  If you purchase a vacation home, you can put an easel or any number of things in the house for the child.  You can also use testing cheats to put items at the Base Camp if you don't have a vacation home.

I hope this is helpful. 

[Schipperke]

Pam, thanks very much for sharing your kowledge re:  nooboos and children.  That is great information about how to move things from the mother's inventory to the child's!  I had been wishing for some way to do that and trying different ways, none of which worked.  Now the boy has his plums and pomelos, he can fish to his heart's content instead of just sitting at the chessboard all day.  Thanks again.

[Pam]

My pleasure. 

[Schipperke]

My pleasure. 

What I've been wondering is, how on earth did you find out how to move things to another sim's inventory?  There are a lot of little things in the game like this that I'd never figure out on my own, and not for want of trying.  I struggle and struggle with something, then along you come and tell me how to do it - problem solved!  I think I need a "sim trivia" manual or something.  Oh well.  Thanks again!

[Pam]

It just comes from piddling around with the game.  I've been playing it since last July and spend a lot of time exploring all the different things.  It's been suggested that we have a "Did You Know" thread for all the little things, but there's just so much to it that it wouldn't be feasible to have a running list like that.  We just address things as they come up here in the forum.  If you have any questions about the game at all, you're more than welcome to ask them either in an existing appropriate thread or in a new one.  There's also a lot of information in the Guide that's really helpful.  Check it out if you haven't already. 

[Schipperke]

Just an update on the skipping school issue.  I was having no luck at all keeping the child in school and had pretty much given up on it.  The only thing I could think of to do was to change the lifespan from Long to Normal - at least that way, I wouldn't have to deal with this for so long.  Changed the lifespan and now the child stays in school all day!  I was wondering why I never encountered it in the Baby Boom challenge, but if the problem is related to lifespan length, that would explain it.  Sort of.

Oops, I spoke too soon.  One pm arrived, he got his Honor Roll moodlet, and he's out of school.  I give up.

[bcollins87]

Kids skip school based on their traits. For example: kids with absent minded trait will consistently lose train of thought and forget to go to school, that's why when you see them get off the bus they go for the swing set. Couch potatoes, etc. will also tend to skip school more than other children. There's no bug.

Brandon

[Schipperke]

Kids skip school based on their traits. For example: kids with absent minded trait will consistently lose train of thought and forget to go to school, that's why when you see them get off the bus they go for the swing set. Couch potatoes, etc. will also tend to skip school more than other children. There's no bug.

Brandon

This child's traits are Disciplined, Virtuoso, and Ambitious.  How would those traits cause him to skip school?