Infant Simulators Teach Students Life Lessons

http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/112209/new_527811880.shtml

At Soldotna High School in Kenai, Alaska, students in the child development course and family consumer science course are assigned a baby simulator to take home and care for over the course of 3 days. Students pick up the baby on a Thursday from teacher Meggean Bos, so they can experience a school day and weekend as teen parents. The baby randomly whines and fusses, alerting that it needs to be fed, diapered, rocked or burped. The responses of the "parent" are recorded. On Monday, Bos plugs the simulator into a computer and the students are assessed on how well they cared for the baby.

"I needed to teach students what it's like to care for a baby, that's one of those things thats hard to replicate," Bos said. She hoped the assignment would make students think beyond whether they would get a good grade. "I'm hoping students may think about what the impact would be on their life and choices they have to make."

"This was just a reality check", said student Pheobe Napolitano. "Pretty much we're all kind of exposed to pregnancy as teens, but it's not until you actually physically have something that's crying that you realize how much it is to take care of it".