For Real Babies were handed out in April, and many juniors and seniors became parents to a baby for two days.
When junior Samantha Ramirez had her For Real Baby, she was not working at the time, and she wasn’t in any sports, so she didn’t have to call out from work or practice. But that didn’t stop the fatigue. She said her baby kept crying all night, keeping both her and her parents awake.
“I think if you’re wanting to have kids in the future, and that’s something you know you actually want them, it’s good practice and makes you realize what you’re going to have to deal with,” Ramirez said.
Senior Jenny Shearer also had her baby in late April. She had to regularly feed it and be awake to care for it. She said she thought it was a good simulation for actual parenthood and felt those who want to be parents should do it.
“It gives a good outlook on teen parenting and having to manage schoolwork and other extracurricular stuff and having to wake up in the morning to take care of it and go to school,” Shearer said.
Senior Jaden Brooks said when he got his baby he had to miss a few days of work and lose out on some sleep. He enjoyed having the baby but found it stressful.
“Every single time I rock it or put it to sleep for five to 10 minutes I have to take care of it while I’m trying to go to sleep,” Brooks said. “Also, it was really hungry. It’d take about 30-40 minutes for it to eat, which took up the majority of my time.”
FACS teacher Julie Fantozzi teaches the class, Interpersonal Relationships.
“I think it provides the perfect amount of anxiety that is created from taking care of a newborn,” Fantozzi said. “They get that sense of lifestyle change where they can’t go to practice or hang out with friends; they have to tote a baby around the whole time.”
The babies being a huge responsibility for students, this happens each April for juniors and seniors and is open to those in Interpersonal Relationships class.
