Teen

Teen is the fourth life stage of a Sim in The Sims 2, The Sims Stories and The Sims 3, after child and before young adult (adult in The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories). Teens are not included in the console games based on The Sims 2 or in The Sims Medieval.

The teen life stage is not present in The Sims, but players can download head and body skins which can give a Sim the appearance of being a teen.



Physiology
The teen life stage lasts for 14 or 15 days. Teens can grow up earlier if they go to college.

In The Sims 2, some teens get zits if hygiene drops. This adds a "use acne cream" option when using the mirror and the teen will act frightened when they "gussy up." Notably, if someone in the teen's close family (like a parent or sibling) had acne problems, the teen is significantly more likely to get acne as well.

They can use gym equipment, and it becomes necessary in order to stay fit.

Teens are unique in that they can grow up into one of two separate ages: Young adult or Adult. In The Sims 2: University, the player has the choice to send a teen to college, where they will live as a young adult, otherwise they will become an adult. In The Sims 3, the player does not have a choice, they will always age to a young adult.

Things that teens can do that lower life stages can't:


 * Build all skills
 * Take care of babies and toddlers (Children could take care of babies in The Sims and The Sims Bustin' Out but this was removed in The Sims 2.)
 * Get a part time job
 * Pay bills
 * Cook meals
 * Can partner and own companies
 * Have romantic relationships
 * Teach a toddler toddler skills
 * Drive cars
 * Show vampire genes and comport like them
 * Not be taken away by social worker
 * Die by Electrocution
 * Die of Starvation
 * Die of Drowning
 * Die in Fire
 * Die of the Mummy's Curse
 * Die by Traps
 * Die by Meteor
 * Die of Thirst
 * Male sims can have facial hair

Personality
In The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories, when a Sim child becomes a teenager, their aspiration is set by the player for the first time in their lives. If Nightlife or later is installed, turn-ons and turn-offs are also set at this time. However, if the "age NPCs" feature of FreeTime is used to age a child Townie to a teen, the player will not be able to choose that Sim's aspiration, turn-ons and turn-off.

In The Sims 3 and The Sims 3 for Console, teens have 4 traits and are able to choose from all of available traits, unlike younger Sims.

Romance
The teenage stage is crucially important to a Sim's development, as romantic relationships can develop for the first time and most teen Sims will have a recurring want for their first kiss and to go steady.

Teens can do everything an adult does except WooHoo, get married, or get pregnant but they can take care of babies and toddlers. (However, there are hacks which enable teens to WooHoo, get married, and get pregnant.) In The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories, their romantic relationships are restricted to other teens, and will be broken when a teen grows up. In The Sims 3, their romantic relationships are also restricted to other teens, unless a playable teen is dating another teen who grows up. The teen will still be the boyfriend/girlfriend of the young adult, but the only available romantic interaction will be kissing. This is also the only legitimate way for a Teen to have a Romance status with a Young Adult.

With a mod such as InTeenimater, teenagers can WooHoo, Try for Babies, get married and move in with each other.

Responsibilities & privileges
Teens begin to take on more responsibilities such as getting a part-time job after school and on weekends, however they still cannot get a full-time job. They must still maintain good grades and, with The Sims 2: University, success at school and in skill building can earn valuable scholarship money.

Teens also get some perks. They can cook and drive a car. They can also live on their own if they become orphans or when all older Sims have moved out of the lot. In The Sims 2, it is even possible for teens to run away if their relationship with their family is too low. In The Sims 3, teens can visit World Adventures locations on their own, if that expansion pack is installed.

Like child Sims, in The Sims 3, teenage Sims have a curfew. However, the curfew for teenagers is 11:00pm, which is an hour later than the curfew of a child. Teenagers who violate curfew get the positive “Out after Curfew” moodlet (child age Sims do not get this moodlet). Just like children, teens that are caught violating curfew by the police will be sent home and given the negative “Caught after Curfew” moodlet. This may change in Generations.

Teens are not able to be taken away by the Social Worker but can be taken away from the Grim Reaper.

Trivia

 * In The Sims 2' and The Sims Stories, Teens do not have curfew which means that Teens are able to be on community lots even if it is after 11:00 PM. In The Sims 3 and The Sims 3 for console, Teens now have a curfew which makes items such as tents useless as the police will catch the Sim.
 * However, the player could have a Young Adult, Adult or Elder travel with the Teen which will avoid Curfew.
 * Although Teens cannot legally have babies, they are able to take care of babies and toddlers. Likewise, Elders cannot legitimately have babies but they can still take care of them.
 * However, they can have a Parent (Aunt/Uncle) status if the Teen has a brother/sister that is a Young Adult and that adult has a child which the Teen will be the Uncle/Aunt of the baby.
 * In The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories, Teens would lose romantic status with another teen if that Sim aged. This was corrected in The Sims 3 for Windows and Mac OS X.