Then I noticed that the baby was a little bit pale and glossy, with a microchip embedded in his onesie - like a baby made of plastic. In fact, the baby was made of plastic -and lots of wires and electronics. This was Baby Think It Over - an "infant simulator with realistic computerized responses, which allows teens to experience some of the demands of infant care." The desired effect of Baby Think It Over is for teenage girls to realize how difficult it would be to simultaneously raise an infant AND practice for text messaging speed contests:
An internal computer simulates an infant crying at realistic, random intervals 24 hours a day. Intervals can be adjusted from 15 minutes to 6 hours for a normal, cranky, or particularly easy to care for (sic) baby.
The "parent" is given a non-transferable key attached to a hospital bracelet on his or her wrist that must be inserted in the Baby for a specific length of time to simulate feeding, bathing, diaper-changing and comforting. Care sessions last from 5 to 35 minutes. If the "baby" has been properly cared for, it will coo to signal the end of the session. If it is neglected (allowed to cry for more than one minute) or handled roughly (dropped, thrown or struck), tamper-proof indicators on the computer will alert the instructor. A drug-affected model, smaller in size, has the additional feature of simulating tremors due to withdrawal from a mother's drug addiction during pregnancy.
Mama was loving towards her baby, cradling him (her?) close to her chest, rocking him tenderly when he cried, feeding him when he was hungry. That is, until the end of every half inning when her boyfriend, who was calling balls and strikes, was free to chat through the baby-protecting wire fence, while baby was left on the hard metal bleacher, face up to the blazing sun (with no sunscreen), supplicating his maker (RealityWorks of Eau Claire, WI) to rescue and take him back to the factory where he was born and remake him into a fun Rube Goldberg contraption.
Yes, I DID take the following photo. That's Mama on the right. At least she cushioned his head on her faux Coach purse:
Oh my. If only there were a guard-rail on the bleacher to protect the baby from rolling off. j/k
ReplyDeleteAll in all, it sounds like a good idea. Maybe you could send the photos anonymously to her teacher? (insert maniacal laugh here)
In my daughter's school both girls and boys have to take a baby for a three night three day stint. It works on some of them.
ReplyDeleteBaby think it over is a course that is used to teach the teenagers that are how to care a infant baby.In this course every thing has been taught like diapering,feeding etc.
ReplyDeleteThe Baby Think It Over infant simulator is a lifelike, life-size baby doll with realistic computerized responses, which allows teens to experience some of the demands of infant care.After spending a couple of days and nights with the Baby Think It Over infant simulator, many teens come to realize that they are not yet ready to take on the pressures and responsibilities of parenting.
ReplyDelete