Sophomore Kailey Krug, despite only having her robot baby for 24 hours, found herself crying. But what surprised her is how her baby, Allie, responded — she cried, too. 

Krug was one of the members of the Child Development 2 class, which were assigned the fake babies.  “I didn’t like constantly waking up throughout the night to take care of the baby,” Krug said.

     For the most part, students really like watching their baby and most take initiative, according to Child Development teacher Shea Bender. There aren’t many complaints, considering there is another assignment they can do in place of caring for the doll. 

     “I think there are a lot of benefits. I think it really is about understanding the demands of early childhood,” Bender said. 

     Bender finds this assignment beneficial because it shows students how hard caring for a child can be, and they often give parents more respect now that they have a better understanding. Students are graded on this assignment through a packet they complete, which requires listing all the babysitters, getting teachers’ signatures, and keeping track every time you care for them. 

     “It is the students’ job to make sure they are doing the project in a safe environment and to be aware of their surroundings,” Bender said. 

    Bender hopes her students learned how to care for children and get a better understanding of family structures. She says there is lots of judgment passed in public, so she hopes this helps her students understand what others are going through and gain empathy for their peers.