Many students are thrilled with the drastic change of the well-known ‘baby project’ for juniors in health class this year. Rather than having to carry around a baby that simulated a real-live-3-month old, juniors simply make a powerpoint that illustrates taking care of a baby for three months. The change seems to have angered the seniors, who have already had their turn to struggle with the plastic infant, yet has left the rest of the grades ecstatic over being saved the trouble.

Previously, the project had involved an electronic baby, “which simulated what it would be like to take care of a three month old baby. Students would have the baby overnight and during the school day; this mimicked the responsibility of being a single parent in high school,” said gym and health teacher Mrs. Kural.

Mrs. Kural told us about the new project, “Now, the new project is pretty much the same idea, students partner up and take home a baby in the sense that they pick a scenario/ situation, from whether they are married or not, what the financial situation it, how many kids they are having, etc. Then, they create a powerpoint that details all of the items they have to buy that are necessary in raising a newborn for the first three months of life, from a nursery to clothing,” said Kural. The groups are given a list of things needed to buy to start off, and then they calculate the overall cost of taking care of the child. Kural said, “They are shown how much of a financial burden or responsibility it is to have a kid in high school.”

Kural could not say why the project changed other than the fact that the maintenance of the electronic babies was costly.

Many students think the new project is easier. “I would rather do the one I did; it was a lot easier,” said junior Rachel Brown.