One of the programs my classes participate in is the Baby Think It Over Program
http://www.realityworks.com/realcare/realcarebaby.html. Since most of my class is related to child growth and development, we spend part of second semester talking about parenting and eventually lead into discussions of teen pregnancy, birth control, labor, delivery and infant growth and development. My students are SO excited to see that I have the babies (I have 6 of them) and that they will be able to take one over the weekend. If you don't know about them, they run about $700-800 a piece, and are the closest thing to an actual real baby less the dirty diapers. They are programmed with 24 hour schedules from real mothers diaries, and need to be rocked, changed, burped and fed, they cry, coo, cough and make breathing sounds. The students average about 4-6 hours of sleep, if not less, and experience many of the same emotions new moms face when bringing home a new baby. I have done this program for almost 9 years now, and am amazed at what an incredible learning tool it is. This morning I had 6 bleary-eyed students show up after a LONG weekend with the baby. Each shared a story from their weekend....embarrassed (by the looks on the faces of strangers seeing them with what seemed to be a baby), ...tired (from the lack of sleep each night, having to wake 3-4 times).....frustrated (by not knowing what the baby wanted and its incessant crying).....delirious (from a lack of sleep coupled with frustration!).....resentful (of not being able to do the things they normally do on the weekend)...
One girl came in looking as if she had just rolled out of bed...she emerged red eyed on the verge of tears. She set the baby down and sighed..."I am going home....I didn't sleep..." and then the tears poured. I felt a pang of guilt as she looked at me so exhausted and clearly frustrated. But I knew, that it would be this experience, the one that made her realize how priceless her current life is...the one that allows her to come and go as she pleases, to be a teenager, and worry about friends, and boys and what she would wear in the morning....the one that allows her to sleep until noon on Saturdays and spend her money on herself...the one that allows her time to discover who SHE IS...to find true love...to experience a broken heart and recover from it without the baggage of having a baby to raise on her own....to graduate and be able to embrace life and all it has to offer with open arms and all of the time and freedom being young without children has to offer. So, as much as I felt her pain, and wondered if it would be worth it for her, I was confident that she (once distanced from the experience) will have gained more from the experience than any lesson learned while sitting in class for a 52 minute class period.....
Every time I teach this unit and begin sending students home, I am always grateful for the choices I was able to create for myself by NOT having a child young...the choice to go to college..the choice to take time to meet my true love, Steve...the choice to get married and have my family and friends celebrate with us....the choice to take a few years to be with my husband, have fun, love each other....the choice to decide to have our first and the second baby....the choice to go back and get my master's degree...the choice to allow myself to be and do the things I want....
I hope this experience helps them to choose being a teenager.......and sleep :).
