Here's your Child...PSYCH!
NEIRAD enilno edition
Every semester, there comes a time when Darien High School finds itself under siege from an army of electronic babies. During this brief period, unlucky psychology students are charged with the care of these babies for 24 consecutive hours. Although it is clear that each of these crying dolls is an annoyance and inconvenience to all those around it, many students don’t understand just how big of a challenge these babies pose to the psychology students who are responsible for them.
“[My baby] had to go everywhere with me. She went to all of my classes, went to the grocery store, and picked up Height's Pizza with me. The worst part was when [she] woke me up in the middle of the night. That wasn't fun,” junior Alexandra Ashcraft said.
Psychology teachers Lynda Carlson and Shannon Eagan have been assigning this “baby project” for many years. At the onset, the baby prop was just a hard-boiled egg, or “eggfant.” After the “eggfants,” a five-pound sack of flour was substituted to more accurately simulate a baby’s weight. Then, Ms. Carlson stumbled upon a company called Reality Works, which provides among other things electronic simulations of several types of infants (the different models include multiple races, both sexes, premature and late births, “crack babies,” etc.) all of which have different behavior patterns, or codes, which are designed based on the specific 24-hour cycle of a baby. The codes determine how they will react and are representative of their real-life counterparts. Each baby is state-of-the-art, and costs $500.
Ms. Carlson said that the baby experiment originated in inner city schools to teach kids the responsibilities of parenthood because of a rise in teen pregnancy. She believes that the experiment is valuable for Darien students as well. Even though teen pregnancy rates are relatively low in Darien compared to in inner city schools, the issue has been discussed in detail at DHS.
“A lot of this project is introspective,” Ms. Carlson said. “Students have to deal with real responsibility, and adapt their schedules effectively. They can also learn a lot about themselves from the experience – particularly what their strengths and weaknesses are, and whether they are caring and nurturing,” Ms Carlson added.
As helpful and instructive as this project may be, the commitment level can be daunting. But Ms. Carlson sees it as similar in workload to any long-term assignment. “The baby project lasts 24 hours, and then you are done,” Ms. Carlson said. “It’s not a huge deal. There aren't too many grades in each quarter for psych, so each assignment carries a lot of weight. This quarter the baby project is approximately 1/6 of each student's grade. Now that the project is over for this semester, I can say that most of the ‘parents’ did an outstanding job.”
Though the babies’ reactions are random, Ms. Carlson has made a few concessions, the most important of which is a common sleep pattern that runs through most of the night. Considering that there is also “daycare” (when students give Ms. Carlson their baby for a few periods, during which they are shut off) and that the original participants from inner city schools had them for two weeks, the 24 hours don’t seem so bad. Ms Carlson said that in the end, most students get a good grade.
Still, those who take psychology should know that these babies are very sophisticated, and can detect virtually any flaw. All of the data recorded from the baby (primarily hours cried, body temperature, physical trauma, neck support, times fed, times changed, and whether you put the same diaper back on after changing) is printed out from the computer, so Ms. Carlson will know if you are ignoring it.
DHS juniors Adrianna Baker and Alexandra Ashcraft were one of the many “couples” given a baby this past month. Both agreed that the project wasn’t all that difficult, but Baker pointed out that there is definitely more work than your average essay, saying, “After you have taken care of the baby for the 24 hours, you still have more to do. There are some questions to answer as well as a ‘baby diary.’”
The two also agreed that the greatest difficulty was dealing with schoolwork whilst tending to the baby. “During AP Chemistry, the [baby] went off during a pop quiz. I also had to miss nearly an entire Spanish class. I was often late to class if my child started crying in the hallway,” Ashcraft said.
In the end though, Ashcraft found the experience intellectually rewarding: “I am glad that I had the project. Some parts of it were fun, but other parts, like having to use my body as a shield from people intent upon punching ‘Wendy’ in the face, were very stressful,” Ashcraft said.
Her partner, however, was not as upbeat about the experience. “I am so glad that the project is over, and no, I am not glad that I had the project. It was a waste of time that taught me nothing about the realities of caring for a child,” Baker said.
Whether the general opinion of the baby project among students is positive or negative, the experiment’s daunting responsibility requirements do not seem to have deterred students. The psychology class is one of the most popular electives among students at DHS, so if you are curious to see how you would fair with the pressure and commitment of caring for another person, don’t hesitate to sign up for the class next year.
