What are Babies Doing on a High School Campus?
Sophomore Mia Niebruegge takes care of “baby” while in school.
May 12, 2023
The baby would cry in the middle of the night and early in the morning. If I didn’t rock the baby, it wouldn’t stop. She said she felt sleep deprived half the time and felt as if she were an actual mother with a real baby.
— Sophomore Olivia Oguz
Each student had to partner up with someone from their class and take turns caring for the baby.
The baby they received wasn’t just any type of baby, but a robot baby that acts like a real infant. The way this was graded is by how much students neglected the baby or how much they took proper care of it. Points could be deducted if they neglected the baby or did something wrong. For example, if the baby cried, they either had to change its diaper, feed it food, or offer comfort.
Sometimes it would cry just to cry, I would change its diaper, feed it, and rock it, and the baby would still cry.
— Sophomore Alessia She'd
The students received a tag sensor that they could scan around the baby’s body, and the sensor would let the student know if the diaper needed to be changed or if it was hungry. Not only did they have to do all these things, but they also had to make sure to hold the baby the right way. If they didn’t hold the baby properly, participating students could get points taken off. Also, they had to cover it up if the baby felt cold or cool the baby off when it felt hot.
Sophomore Olivia Oguz said she felt sleep deprived half the time as if she were an actual mother with a real baby.
