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Computerized Babies Offer Real-Life Experience

Posted on: Friday, 8 June 2007, 18:00 CDT

PANAMA CITY -- Ashley Johns sat on the floor feeding her baby a bottle. Nearby, Patris Lewis and Tynisha Jackson tended to their little ones.

The girls are 11 and 12 years old, and their babies are computerized.

A dozen children enrolled in the two-week RealCare Parenting Program that began Monday at the Boys and Girls Club of Bay County. Each child is assigned a computerized baby to tend every day from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. By letting them experience the stress and hard work involved, the hope is they will avoid teen pregnancy.

The computerized babies are supplied through the After School Assistance Program, or ASAP, which also offers educational programs at several sites, said Janeen Horton, public relations coordinator. The program focuses on children 11 to 13.

The babies, which cost $500 each, look and feel real. Their skin is supple and they are the same size and weight (7 pounds) as a newborn. There are boys and girls, and each is named.

They are clothed in hoodies and footed pants and have their own infant seats, milk bottles, diaper bags and diapers. The babies are equipped with sensor chips and programmed to cry periodically to indicate hunger, wetness, fussiness and pain. Caretakers must pinpoint the problem and correct it in order to quiet the baby.

"We have the new babies," Horton said. "They need head support when they're picked up, or they'll scream for three minutes."

During the two weeks, information about each baby's care is captured by the sensor and graded by Horton. She shares the findings with the teacher, who shares them with the participants.

As an example of the findings, Horton pointed to the results from a previous group from ASAP's Pana-Villa site.

"The boys had the highest scores," Horton said. "The rest of them -- Lord have mercy!" Monday morning, the students in the class at the club, including one boy, were issued their babies and watched an explanatory video.

"They think it's fun at first, but the video tells them, and I reiterate, that by the end of the day, they're going to be annoyed," Horton said. "By Day 3, the kids want to cry, and after two weeks, they say, 'I'm definitely not ready to have a baby.'" Javier Melendez, 13, is the only boy in the parenting class at the Boys and Girls Club.

"It was fun at first," he said of the experience. "But then it got old."

Ashlee Johns, 12, said she was dismayed when she jumped in the club's pool and heard screams.

"I had to get out of the pool, dry off completely and give it my attention," she said. "It taught me not to get pregnant at an early age."

"In the beginning, I was happy to get the baby," said Patra Lewis, 11, "but by the middle of the day, I just can't take it. I'm waiting to have my baby when I get out of college."

Nicole Johnson, 13, agreed.

"I didn't know it was going to cry all the time," she said. "I be hearing it cry in my sleep."

Source: The News Herald

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