Real Care Parenting program starts in Parenting class

During this semester in Parenting class the students will be participating in the RealCare Parenting Program.  Every Friday a different student will wear the empathy belly.  Girls wear it the entire day and boys wear it during class.  At the end of the day the student will be given a baby to take care of over the weekend.  Unlike the babies we have had in the past, this one is a little more realistic.  Students have a bracelet they must wear the entire time they have their baby.  Without the bracelet the baby will not accept care.  When the baby cries the students must figure out whether the baby would like to be fed, changed, burped, or rocked.   They must also keep a log of when the baby cries, what care was provided, and amount of time baby cried.  Students must also be careful and remember to support the babies head whenever they pick the baby up.  An extra bracelet is included in case the student needs to have a babysitter for a short period of time, but the majority of the care must come from the student.  On Monday morning the students bring the baby back and data is retreived from the baby which will tell the student how well they did taking care of the baby.