A baby simulator to be exact!
Saturday, at a surprise birthday party for one of my daughter-in law’s friends, I happened to see one of the teenagers with what looked to be a real baby in her arms.
Nope, a FAKE baby! (But it sure looked real)
I felt compelled to photograph it and asked a few questions of the “baby minder”
She told me about the project for a Child Development Class in Steel Valley Senior High School. Each student is issued a baby (both male and female students). They take turns caring for the “baby” for a week.
Baby simulators are expensive as I looked them up.
Don’t even think about leaving the baby unattended.
From across the room, it looked real to me!
The “caregiver” explained how one night the baby cried ELEVEN times!
You have to insert the proper key in the proper hole in the back of the fake baby to get it to stop crying.
Burping it and rocking it are part of the plan. Not sure of the effectiveness rate in pregnancy prevention but it seems like a valuable experience.
You can see the labels on the various keys to insert into the right hole in the back.
Years ago, I remember hearing about a project of attending to a five pound bag of flour for a week, carrying it with you wherever you go, not letting the bag split. The baby simulator has lots of technology and the data is monitored and recorded from what I understand.
Fascinating! I’ve only heard of such things, and never knew about the technology that went along with it. Thanks for sharing, Ruth!
Great idea – even if it stops one teen from becoming pregnant its worth it. My kids did something similar in middle school but it was a 5 pound bag of sugar.
The technology has progressed. I, too, think this is a great idea.
Wow, the simulator does look very real! I heard a This American Life episode where they discussed these “dolls” – and yes, the technology in them is impressive. (If you want to listen or read, it’s Act 2 of this episode: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/549/transcript)
The nails much go when the Baby is real!