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It’s not every day that you walk into a high school classroom and nearly every student – boys and girls – is tending to a baby.

Yet these aren’t exactly babies. They are infant simulators called RealCare® babies and they look just like an actual baby, but inside, they are operated by a computer. The babies cry, coo, breathe and burp. They wear cloth diapers and a sleeper – pink for girls, blue for boys. The babies come with a blanket, bottles, a diaper bag and a carrier. The babies are Hispanic, African American, Caucasian, Native American and Japanese and they each have their own names.

Debby Kniepkamp teaches Family Living and Parenthood at Hazelwood West High School. Students learn about communication, dating, relationships, reproduction, birth defects and more, in addition to the challenges of a child.

“The overall purpose for using the RealCare® babies is for students to experience firsthand how difficult it is to manage a child while in high school,” said Kniepkamp.

Not only do the students have the babies in class, there are assignments that require them to take home a baby for the weekend. They are graded on their care of the child by the software in the body.

Once the baby is activated, the parent is monitored for things such as rocking and diapering, feeding and burping, head support, positioning, handling and even shaking the baby. Grades are given as percentages. A printout shows the amount of time the baby was in the parent’s care, including exact times that key moments were missed.

Marshall Henderson, a sophomore, thinks

the class is a “great experience for kids who plan on having babies in the future. It teaches you what it’ll be like,” he said.

“It’s a lot of work,” Henderson said as he held a bottle to his baby’s mouth.

“I’m still too young for kids. Maybe after college I’ll be capable of taking care of a baby,” he said.

Serah Waweru, a senior, likes the experience. “It teaches you that it’s not easy to take care of a baby.”

Lacy Mason, a junior, thinks “real babies are a lot easier” to take care of. She is taking the class to “learn more about being a parent.”

Kniepkamp explained that some students cannot take the babies home for the weekend. Some can’t because they have their own children, others can’t because of health reasons or their parents will not allow it. In those situations, there is an alternate assignment.

“For students with a child, they are given several assignments, which is about eight hours of work. The assignments ask them to reflect on the birth and care of their own baby, including proper medical care, creating a scrapbook, setting goals for the future of the baby and themselves, and comparing their experience with other teens with children,” said Kniepkamp.

Other classes in the Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) curriculum include the care of babies represented by small bags of flour. The flour bag babies are used in Child Development and are cared for at school by students. “It also reminds students that parenting is a long-term commitment.”

RealCare® and flour bag babies are used at each high school in the District.

Story by Hazelwood District Communications Dapt.

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