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March 25, 2008

Ersatz babies teach area students trials of parenthood

By ALVIN REINER The Press Republican Tue Mar 25, 2008, 04:45 AM EDT

ELIZABETHTOWN -- The wail of a baby punctuates the proceedings of a panel discussion at a high-school assembly. Within a few minutes, the 17-year-old "parent" has the infant pacified and cooing.

Throughout the North Country, teenagers are experiencing the joys and tribulations of pseudo-parenting as part of their health or home/careers classes. Robot babies are the lesson book.

BRINGING HOME BABY

The baby simulation is required as part of an overall education in parenting in Laura Eldred's class at Willsboro Central School. Lessons cover health, from pre-natal care to birth and through adolescence. Proper nutrition, obesity, medication, emotions, nurturing and safety are among the topics covered.

The lessons can be stark.

"The vast majority of students in the class say they are definitely not ready now to become a parent but would like to several years in the future," Keene teacher Stephanie Quinn said. "Lack of sleep gets to most of them, and it definitely gets in the way of sports and social life."

Hannah Kirkby had an experience most real parents have undergone, when "Bella" decided to cry during a presentation.

"I just wanted to hurry up and make it stop crying as it was embarrassing. The other students giggled and pointed a finger. I hurried up and stuck the key in (to turn the crying off) and waited for it to coo."

Kirkby felt that if she had had "Bella" for a week instead of 24 hours "it would have been more of an eye-opener."

FUTURE FATHERS

While parenting, in the past, was generally considered the mother's responsibility, male students now also must demonstrate their parenting abilities.

"It kind of shows you teenagers aren't ready to have children in high school," said Peter Dwyer of Keene Central School. "The reality is that a child does need a lot of attention."

He had to wake up about four times a night to attend to "Kirysten's" needs.

Keene's Andrew Murphy didn't care for his pseudo-progeny crying at 2 a.m., especially when he couldn't find the keys to quiet her.

"I think I even started crying," he mused.

Murphy recalls taking his baby to Lake Placid.

"A lot of people looked at you funny, but I ignored them."

John Bigelow of Willsboro had to care for "John Jr."

"Even just taking care of a kid with a key in its back takes a lot of work," he said. "You have to have a steady lifestyle and have a lot of money available."

At the end of his 24 hours, he felt "tired but happy that I accomplished it."

Willsboro's Brad Ball said his experiences with "Jacob" were "definitely a shocker. Oh, my God, it made you nervous. I didn't want to do it wrong. I don't want one this early."

He admitted having an attachment for the infant, but "it shows how much work it is."

Nathan Henrichs had tucked "Jim" in his car seat and was heading down the road when the infant decided to display its displeasure.

"I stuck the key in it, but it kept screaming. So I pulled the box out, but it still kept screaming."

About parenting, Henrichs said, "I noticed how hard it is. It's a lot tougher than you think. It made me not want to have kids."

"Joe Stalin" was the moniker applied to Wayne Feeley's infant for a day, perhaps based on his experience.

"The baby project is evil," Feeley said. "It cried every hour from 3 a.m. It was horrible. I fell asleep leaning against my locker at the end of the school day."

While he did admit to learning how to hold a child, he plans not to have kids "until way later."

LESSONS FOR LIFE

Though many of the boys had babysat for siblings or relatives, most had never had to care for an infant or mind youngsters for more than a few hours.

Willsboro Central School's family and consumer science teacher Laura Eldred said she had some third-graders say: "Mrs. Eldred, I can't believe you make the boys take the babies."

But in discussing the role of boys, she said, "I think this generation knows that dads need to be able to provide as much care to babies as moms do.

"They do not complain about the activity. They are going to be a great generation of parents."

Rondackrambler@yahoo.com

ROBOT CHOICES
Several baby simulators are available to help schools with their baby lessons.
Baby Think It Over, which Willsboro Central School uses, was conceived in 1993 due to unemployed aerospace engineer Richard Jurmain needing to support his family. He had noticed students carrying bags of flour to emulate infants and knew he could come up with something more realistic.
Keene Central School students bond for two days with the Ready or Not Tot, which is programmed for 48 hours. It cries, coos and burps in response to its needs and proper care. During this time, the "parent" can expect about 25 tending occurrences. The Tot includes a "panic" key for quieting the difficulties without discontinuing the entire simulation.
The robot infants are generally anatomically correct, weigh around 7 pounds and are about 21 inches long.
The computer is programmed to cry at random intervals throughout the day and night. The instructor can program the baby and then asses its care through computerized indicators.
Some infants are fairly simple, as the proper key is generally all that's needed to satisfy the bawling baby. Others have a sophistication that requires a virtual feeding, diaper change, burping or other parental activity.
In addition, some are made to show the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome, drug-induced abnormalities and the effects of a shaken baby.
The sophisticated Real Care Baby records proper head support, shaking, diaper changes, position in crib, feeding, gentle rocking to sleep and burping. It generates 100 baby sounds, including breathing, crying, coughing and burping, and emits a faint baby-powder scent.
"" By Staff Writer
Alvin Reiner