Teen takes robotic baby home for school assignment and it’s a complete disaster
By Mike-Ross
Being a parent is never easy. That’s one reason why many schools have adopted an early child care program to help teens learn more about the reality of caring for an infant.
In years gone by, students may have been asked to care for a bag of flour or an egg, but today’s teaching tools are much more advanced and will cry at random intervals, just like a real baby.
These robotic infants also have sensors that can detect how long it takes a teen to respond, how well they support the infant’s head, how gently they treat the baby, and more.
Fourteen year old Olivia Galloway was given one of these interactive robotic babies as part of a class assignment. She was required to keep the animatronic infant for the weekend and would be graded on how well she cared for it.
Facebook / Lawren Galloway
The baby must be fed, changed, and rocked. Just like a real baby, the robotic newborn’s only signal is a high-pitched cry. It’s up to the teen to discover what the cause is, and even then it can take some time before the robo-baby settles down.
“It sounds like an easy task, but then it repeats at ungodly hours,” wrote Olivia’s mother Lawren in a now-viral Facebook post. “It would wake her crying when she was dead asleep and then cry again an hour later.”
By Monday morning, Olivia looked about as ragged as most new moms.
Facebook / Lawren Galloway
“She’s had him since Friday night. She is absolutely exhausted and ready to quit the class and give William back,” Lawren explained, “Maybe even throw him back.”
Lawren said Olivia was up all night, exhausted and sobbing as she was unable to stop the infant’s cries. She begged her mom for help, but Lawren just laughed. She had a real newborn to care for at the same time, Olivia’s infant sibling!
“Sunday night, William magically started crying as soon as I set the table for dinner, it was almost like he knew,” Lawren said in an interview. “Long story short, Olivia had to warm her plate up three times. His feedings were taking nearly 20 minutes, he required a burp, diaper change, and about 12 minutes of rocking.”
Facebook / Lawren Galloway
In the end, the robotic infant did it’s job and Olivia learned a powerful lesson. Despite all her hard work, she only earned a 65% at the end of the assignment (poor head support and not enough rocking seemed to be her biggest pitfalls).
“This assignment should be mandatory for both boys and girls in high school,” Lawren said.
Watch the video below to learn more! Do you think all teens should take a class like this?
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