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Teens Take Fake Babies Home For A Parenting Project, Instructor Shares Their Desperate Texts
Students at Chippewa Secondary School are learning how difficult parenting is the hard way and people are loving every bit of their misery. As part of their annual class project, the teens got fake babies to take care of. They took the little bundles of joy for just one weekend. However, that was enough for the hands-on experimental learning to become quite the hassle. Looking for answers or simply a shoulder to cry on, the students turned to their instructor. The texts they sent perfectly sum up the desperation, agony, and resentment they spiraled into during those couple of days.
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Image credits: Chippewa Secondary School
“Our students are in a grade 11 class called Raising Healthy Children,” the teacher of the class, Andrea Lefebvre told Bored Panda. “The students bring home one of the Real Care babies for the weekend to apply their learning for the caring for a newborn unit.
Lefebvre said that the babies cry, need to be held, rocked, burped, diapers need to be changed and they need to be fed. The dolls also record rough handling, abuse and temperatures. So I guess the only thing they’re missing is a never-wiping snot and they’d be the real deal.
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“Our school board (Near North District School Board) owns the babies and each school accesses them through the year for their classes,” Lefebvre added. “Lots of use!”
“Students look forward to this unit when they register for the course. We really love this unit. Great discussions and real-life learning.”
Parenting Education attempts to prepare the students for the adventure of parenthood. The content of these efforts varies from one school to another, ranging from behavior-management approaches to relationship enhancement approaches. What the programs have in common, though, is the conviction that parents play a vital role in the development of children and that they can be more effective through training and education.
“Through the chaos that is child-rearing, we can reach out to find support, find humor in the crazy situations and with love and guidance, know that our kids will be ok!” Lefebvre concluded.
P.S. “Lucy survived and the data showed the students did very well.”
People were incredibly amused by the texts
What do you think ?
Sian Edwards 6 years ago
I'm an adult and work in a youth project. We had these reality babies and I took one home for test purposes before giving them to teens. Deliberately set it on the toughest option. Lasted 3 hours before I disabled it by removing the battery/recording pack. I love children, but I'm not mummy material!
spirit wolf 6 years ago
I agree, I can babysit my nieces and nephews and other people's children for a few hours at a stretch and I love buying presents for kids but I most certainly cannot do full time mothering, that's a fact that's been settled a long time ago and that's ALRIGHT. Honestly, I can barely remember to feed myself most days. Hats off to all the mothers out there!!!
Load More Replies...
John Louis 6 years ago
At no point in my life did I ever want to have children and I am glad I did not. Everyone should be given the opportunity to experience what it is like and whether they really want children.
Seabeast 6 years ago
I was the oldest girl (second oldest sibling) in a large family and I got pressed into service as a babysitter whenever my parents needed me. (Not my older brother, of course - heaven forbid he should do "women's work".) I definitely think that this is why I decided early on to not have children - I felt I'd already done a lot of that.
Load More Replies...
Foxxy 6 years ago
I wish babies came with a shut off switch, Hell I would even be happy for some volume control hahaha (jk).
Lsai Aeon 6 years ago
Nah, Mine was the perfect baby. Asperger's and all he was and is an amazing kid. He turns 12 today. His father one the other hand, can I have an off switch for him?
Load More Replies...
Pseudo Puppy 6 years ago
food for thought: we had very informative sex education at my school. Very factual: how reproduction works, how conception occurs, dispelling all the false ideas (eg "can't fall pregnant the first time you have sex / in a pool / if the girl is on top" etc). Very practical education : this is a condom, here is how they work & why, you can get them for free from this free clinic. We had condom vending machines in both the girls & boys toilets, so they could be bought, very cheaply, & privately. End result: NO teen pregnancies in my school of 1500 students, with one exception: a 16 year old girl, with a long term boyfriend, who transferred in to our school already pregnant. She and the dad stayed together, and are still happily together with more kids. So, yeah, out of a testing pool of over 2,700 teens (throughout my 5 years there) , I can attest to the fact that effective, factual, sex education, does work in preventing unwanted pregnancy. And no, we never did the "fake baby".
Karen Klinck 6 years ago
You obviously never needed it there. It's widely used in city schools, where the kids are brought up on 'have a baby and you can have your OWN welfare case. That's your money; nobody can touch it.' This conviently doesn't cover caring for the child (which the doll does) or the mechanics of making that small amount stretch for housing, clothes, diapers (!), and things like that. I made a set of budgets for a teaching friend, on just what they'd get. After those got passed around, along with actual adds for food, rentals, clothing, etc, a lot of teens were heard to say, "THAT'S all you get? I'm *never* getting pregnant!"
Load More Replies...
Lsai Aeon 6 years ago
I did this in high school, with the flour baby. The other kids in my class kidnapped my flour baby. They returned it about an hour later after stabbing it numerous times with scissors and knives and pencils. Somehow I was held responsible for the kidnapping and killing of my flour child...
NotMe 6 years ago
Oh my god... the exact same thing happened to me and my flour baby in school!! Only they made us do it in elementary school, so none of us were yet mature enough to take it seriously
Load More Replies...
Paige s 6 years ago
Story time: we did this at high school in year 9 (age 14-15) we had to have the at school and at home for a week :(, I got very sick with tonsillitis and had to go to the hospital but because I'm a OCD perfectionist I didn't want to give up so I sit up at the hospital for 7 hours with a crying baby, getting many weird looks and had a lady actually come up to me and tell me I'm a bit young to have a child, before I showed her that it was a doll, the day after I had finished my week I passed out from exhaustion and ended up back in hospital - since then each year the have had to report back to their teacher each day on how much sleep they got and how they were copping (health check) it was a hellish week for everyone in the class and afterwards I would wake up thinking I could her it crying before I remembered it was back a school.
Full Name 6 years ago
Nothing wrong with being a perfectionist. Also, who the f**k walks up to a child and tells them they're too young to have a child? Thanks, tips! What exactly are they hoping to accomplish with that comment?
Load More Replies... Phoenix 6 years ago
Anyone else get an uncooked egg to carry around all day? I dropped mine. I don't have kids.
Nadine 6 years ago
I did. These fake babies are great idea. More understanding, the better.
Load More Replies... Magpie 6 years ago
aaaand has anyone actually done any follow up science to see if this does reduce the amount of teen pregnancy?
ThymeGarden 6 years ago
Yes. Having the 'fake baby' experience actually slightly raises the chance of teen pregnancy.
Load More Replies...
Amber Cook 6 years ago
My 16 y.o. daughter literally just did this a few weeks ago. The baby wasn't too bad, bet she has experienced real babies and found this one to be nothing like it. It did fuss a lot and she did realize the frustration and lack of sleep real ones can give you. But she did really good! I used to other bracket to help her out when she was starting to get frustrated.
Sian Edwards 6 years ago
I'm an adult and work in a youth project. We had these reality babies and I took one home for test purposes before giving them to teens. Deliberately set it on the toughest option. Lasted 3 hours before I disabled it by removing the battery/recording pack. I love children, but I'm not mummy material!
spirit wolf 6 years ago
I agree, I can babysit my nieces and nephews and other people's children for a few hours at a stretch and I love buying presents for kids but I most certainly cannot do full time mothering, that's a fact that's been settled a long time ago and that's ALRIGHT. Honestly, I can barely remember to feed myself most days. Hats off to all the mothers out there!!!
Load More Replies... John Louis 6 years ago
At no point in my life did I ever want to have children and I am glad I did not. Everyone should be given the opportunity to experience what it is like and whether they really want children.
Seabeast 6 years ago
I was the oldest girl (second oldest sibling) in a large family and I got pressed into service as a babysitter whenever my parents needed me. (Not my older brother, of course - heaven forbid he should do "women's work".) I definitely think that this is why I decided early on to not have children - I felt I'd already done a lot of that.
Load More Replies... Foxxy 6 years ago
I wish babies came with a shut off switch, Hell I would even be happy for some volume control hahaha (jk).
Lsai Aeon 6 years ago
Nah, Mine was the perfect baby. Asperger's and all he was and is an amazing kid. He turns 12 today. His father one the other hand, can I have an off switch for him?
Load More Replies... Pseudo Puppy 6 years ago
food for thought: we had very informative sex education at my school. Very factual: how reproduction works, how conception occurs, dispelling all the false ideas (eg "can't fall pregnant the first time you have sex / in a pool / if the girl is on top" etc). Very practical education : this is a condom, here is how they work & why, you can get them for free from this free clinic. We had condom vending machines in both the girls & boys toilets, so they could be bought, very cheaply, & privately. End result: NO teen pregnancies in my school of 1500 students, with one exception: a 16 year old girl, with a long term boyfriend, who transferred in to our school already pregnant. She and the dad stayed together, and are still happily together with more kids. So, yeah, out of a testing pool of over 2,700 teens (throughout my 5 years there) , I can attest to the fact that effective, factual, sex education, does work in preventing unwanted pregnancy. And no, we never did the "fake baby".
Karen Klinck 6 years ago
You obviously never needed it there. It's widely used in city schools, where the kids are brought up on 'have a baby and you can have your OWN welfare case. That's your money; nobody can touch it.' This conviently doesn't cover caring for the child (which the doll does) or the mechanics of making that small amount stretch for housing, clothes, diapers (!), and things like that. I made a set of budgets for a teaching friend, on just what they'd get. After those got passed around, along with actual adds for food, rentals, clothing, etc, a lot of teens were heard to say, "THAT'S all you get? I'm *never* getting pregnant!"
Load More Replies... Lsai Aeon 6 years ago
I did this in high school, with the flour baby. The other kids in my class kidnapped my flour baby. They returned it about an hour later after stabbing it numerous times with scissors and knives and pencils. Somehow I was held responsible for the kidnapping and killing of my flour child...
NotMe 6 years ago
Oh my god... the exact same thing happened to me and my flour baby in school!! Only they made us do it in elementary school, so none of us were yet mature enough to take it seriously
Load More Replies... Paige s 6 years ago
Story time: we did this at high school in year 9 (age 14-15) we had to have the at school and at home for a week :(, I got very sick with tonsillitis and had to go to the hospital but because I'm a OCD perfectionist I didn't want to give up so I sit up at the hospital for 7 hours with a crying baby, getting many weird looks and had a lady actually come up to me and tell me I'm a bit young to have a child, before I showed her that it was a doll, the day after I had finished my week I passed out from exhaustion and ended up back in hospital - since then each year the have had to report back to their teacher each day on how much sleep they got and how they were copping (health check) it was a hellish week for everyone in the class and afterwards I would wake up thinking I could her it crying before I remembered it was back a school.
Full Name 6 years ago
Nothing wrong with being a perfectionist. Also, who the f**k walks up to a child and tells them they're too young to have a child? Thanks, tips! What exactly are they hoping to accomplish with that comment?
Load More Replies... Phoenix 6 years ago
Anyone else get an uncooked egg to carry around all day? I dropped mine. I don't have kids.
Nadine 6 years ago
I did. These fake babies are great idea. More understanding, the better.
Load More Replies... Magpie 6 years ago
aaaand has anyone actually done any follow up science to see if this does reduce the amount of teen pregnancy?
ThymeGarden 6 years ago
Yes. Having the 'fake baby' experience actually slightly raises the chance of teen pregnancy.
Load More Replies... Amber Cook 6 years ago
My 16 y.o. daughter literally just did this a few weeks ago. The baby wasn't too bad, bet she has experienced real babies and found this one to be nothing like it. It did fuss a lot and she did realize the frustration and lack of sleep real ones can give you. But she did really good! I used to other bracket to help her out when she was starting to get frustrated.
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