Why do children fake illness for attention?

There are two differing cases. l. kids might fake an illness to get out school, which is a form of truancy. They may well fear for their lives- kids going about with assault rifles and similar weapons. The other is more serious. Kids do get caught up in family arguments and might here remarks like ( you know I wish we didn"t have that Bobby,. he"s such as bad kid, pest, etc) Some kids will even feint ( not the right Word, but well, attempt) suicide attempts in a desperate bid to get attention. I knew of an accident when three kids were playilng ( Explorer) back in the mid-sixties, we were walking along a narrow walkway around the buildings where I still live ( they have since put up a fence) I got across clear ( we were all walking with arms straight out- lilke acrobats) a girl who was my friend got over the gap okay- then this guy they called (Gobby) started making weird noises , lost his footing ( or jumped) and fell 20 feet. He survived, but required major surgery. needless to say, nobody played Explorer any more! I heard that (Gobby) came from a divorced family or (Broken Home) almost certainly, he did this deliberately. The stunt could have easily killed him.