Wakonda FACS students learn lessons of parenting by Ally Eckert At least four out of every 10 girls will become pregnant before they are 20, adding up to almost one million every year. Several of Wakonda High School's Family and Consumer Science (F.A.C.S.) students got the privilege of using the "Baby Think It Over" to learn what it is like to be a single teen mother.
The "baby" is programmed with several different schedules. Every schedule is based on a real baby's schedule for a day.
The seven lucky girls each get to take a baby home for the weekend. They have to feed, change, and provide other care for their baby.
These girls only get a glimpse of what it would be like to be a teen parent, but that's enough for most of them.
With the baby waking up in the middle of the night, sometimes every hour, the girls learned what it would be like having to wake up and get ready for school with only a few hours of sleep a night. They also had to take it with them where ever they went.
Most of the girls agreed that the worst part was when the baby cried at night. The girls all said that this was a good way to learn about the responsibility of being a single mother. Everyone agreed that they aren't ready to be a mother just yet.
Bringing these babies into public was a unique experience.
"It was kind of embarrassing. My baby cried a lot so it was hard to bring out in public," said Mandi Giedd.
Classmate Tiffany Ganschow agreed.
"It was embarrassing because people would talk about you and give weird looks," she said.
Most of the girls, though, came to really miss their babies. There are several, however, who are happy to be able to sleep again.
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