This past weekend, several Family Studies students took their RealCare babies home. Each student who wanted to get extra credit brought home an animatronic baby that had all the same needs as a regular child.
Participating students have to take their childcare knowledge from the class to be able to take care of the child for the weekend.
The students took the babies home on Friday and brought them back on Monday, giving them a glimpse into parenthood.
There are pros and cons to this extra credit assignment. Sophomore Savannah Cagle said there were multiple advantages.
“The best thing about being a parent was knowing something relied on you and wanted your care,” Cagle said.
Still, this assignment came with some difficulties as well. Sophomore Caroline Overman had some negatives to being a “parent” for the weekend.
“The worst part was having to go out in public,” Overman said. “I got a lot of dirty looks from everyone around me. It got kinda annoying to carry around everywhere. I think it definitely gave me a perspective on how hard it would be to be a teen mom.”
However, both sophomores had a good experience with this extra credit assignment. Cagle said her overall experience was fun and enjoyable.
“My experience was pretty fun,” Cagle said. “I brought the baby to my sister’s college for her volleyball game. It cried a few times when people looked at me and didn’t realize it was fake at first which was awkward. It was different having to carry a baby around everywhere.”
Overman said her time with this assignment was overall good, and it taught her new things about being a parent.
“It’s very informative and I’m learning a lot of valuable information like when I’m older,” Overman said. “If you have friends in the class it’s a really fun class to take. My experience with the baby was overall a very good one.”
