Every year students in Tommi Johnston’s parenting class take home the Ready-Or-Not Tot fake baby for the weekend. The point of the baby is to teach students what parenting is like and to encourage students not to have a child as a teenager.

“I will definitely not be having a child as a teen,” junior Erica Pruitt said. “I knew that before the project, but now that I have experienced the baby, even though it’s fake, I don’t want children until I have at least graduated and married.”

Students usually take home the baby the second semester of their sophomore, junior, or senior year after taking the Child Development class.

“I like for them to take the baby home after they take their lesson three test, because that lesson talks about teen parenting,” Johnston said. “It just ties into what I want them to learn during that time period. Plus, they can use what they learned from the lesson with that child during the weekend.”

Students get their baby on Friday after 7th period and have to bring it back Monday morning before school for Johnston to turn them off.

“Many students think, since it’s a Friday, that on Saturday, I’ll turn it off and they just keep it till Monday, but they don’t have to take care of it anymore,” Johnston added. “Unfortunately for them, it’s all weekend. Honestly I think it can teach them more about having a child, such as having to take it everywhere you go, having to choose not to do certain activities that a baby could not be able to attend, and the negative looks from people when you go somewhere.”

The baby is acts and looks like a real infant.

“The baby cries in cycles, either for feeding, for burping, for attention, or for a diaper change. When the tot cries, it will cry until a ‘key’ for either one of the needs is inserted into it’s back. If it doesn’t stop crying, then that means it is not the right key and that is not it need,” says Johnston.

Some students disagree that it acts like a real baby.

“Considering the fact that I have experienced a baby, I don’t think it acts like a real baby,” Pruitt said. “It cried every hour on the hour during the night, but during the day it was only a few times. It was tiresome.”

Johnston said she thinks the worse thing about it is the fact that it involves keys and not actually changing a baby’s diaper or feeding a baby or giving a baby attention.

“It still has effect, but not one that can be taken seriously to some students,” Johnston said.” You don’t know why it’s crying; you just have to start sticking keys in, guessing what it needs, also if it ‘coos’ signaling the beginning or end to a period and you don’t stick the key in fast enough it begins to cry, really loud.”

sophomore Emily Woodell said the worst part was the continuous key inserting just to confort the baby because it usually wasn’t just one problem.

“Even if it woke up in the middle of the night for one thing it would cry twice for it,” Woodell said. “If the baby was hungry, you stick the feeding key in its back, it will ‘coo’. Then it will ‘coo’ the second time, signaling the end of the feeding period. That is when you stick the burp key in and it will ‘coo’ signaling the beginning of the burping period. When it finally burps, ten to twenty minutes later, then you stick the burp key in the second time for the end of the feeding/burping session.”

Woodell said if they baby need a diaper change, it requires several steps too.

“It will cry, you stick the diaper change key in it’s back. It will ‘coo’ signaling the beginning of the diaper change period,” Woodell said. “Eventually it will ‘c00’ the second time signaling to stick the same key in again and then it will ‘coo’ the third time signaling the end of the diaper change time.”

The students come to school exhausted and with bags under their eyes, but it is definitely worth the 300 points.

“The fact that it’s 300 points for the whole thing overthrows all the negative things that come with it,” says Woodell.

Johnston said the students really put more effort into when the stakes are higher.

“I give 50 points for just not abusing the tot, which I know because if it is dropped or hit a red light goes off on the back and can’t be shut off unless by me,” she said. “If the baby is abused then it will cry for an entire minute straight.  I give 20 points for not using the panic key, which is an opinion.  The panic key is a key for if nothing else works, then use it and the baby will stop crying.

Students also keep a journal in a packet for the three days to write down anything that happened to the baby, which is worth at least 50 points.

“The packet also includes a birth certificate and a page for the parents to fill out about their opinions of the tot and a pre- and post-questionnaire,”  Johnston said.  “The most important thing is to chart every time it cries, students must note what time and what it needed.”

Although it sounds like a lot of work, students have a lot of fun with it.

“I got to dress it up and have a diaper bag and a carrier and I felt sophisticated,” Woodell said. “I know that sounds bad, but I enjoyed something different. I was anxious about what it was going to do and the curiosity was just overwhelming. By 2:00 Friday afternoon I was so ready to get it and take it home.”

If you’re interested in taking home a baby to learn about the experience, then sign up for the Child Development and Parenting classes when scheduling for next year comes around.