At first glance, you notice a little girl holding her dressed-up doll, but after looking further, there is no head. What kind of doll is this? The headless doll was named “Nicole.” Her mother is a 5th-grade single parent at a private school on
“Nicole” was a five pound bag of flour, given to 10-year-old Samantha as part of a one week parenting project from her teacher. “Our science curriculum this year focuses on life sciences and the human body. Part of the study of the body is to understand growth and human reproduction, so it’s healthy for kids at this age to be introduced to this,” Bonnie Wishne, principal of Ancona Montessori School in Kenwood, told the Defender.
“It’s appropriate to introduce these ideas to children before they become sexually active, so they can think about these issues before they start to make real choices.” A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics showed that girls age 15-19 years accounted for 41.9 births per 1,000 in 2006.
For the past two years, teachers at Ancona used sacks of flour to teach a combined class of fifth and sixth graders about the realities of parenthood. The students had to spend seven consecutive days toting their babies around the school’s campus, at home and any other place the student went. The babies were to never be left unattended.
“I change her diaper every 2-3 hours and feed her every hour. But, she mostly sits in her stroller. Sometimes I put her in day care because some of the teachers won’t let us bring the babies to class. If we drop them, then they might have to clean up the flour,” Samantha said. The day care that “Nicole” attended for about an hour each day during that week was a classroom that was set up especially for the babies.
One or two adults usually watched them while their “parents” were in their respective classes. If a parent was late picking up a child, there was fee to pay, $2 extra, in addition to the $8 for day care during regular school hours. While it may all seem like fun and just a friendly game of “house” during recess time, the students participating in the project find out that there is real work attached to the dressed-up bag of flour .
“The students must have a log where they record the care they gave the baby, such as feedings and diaper changes. They must calculate all the expenses that are incurred during that week. When doing the expenses, they added them up for the week and figured out how much they would have spent during an entire year caring for the baby,” said Peg Pavelic, Samantha’s teacher. Keeping a log and tracking expenses is not the only responsibilities the students have.
They must also suffer the consequences if something happens to their baby. “One of the boys dropped his baby and he had to go to jail,” Samantha said. Jail was equal to attending a parenting class instead of going out for recess with the other students, the girl said.
Once the week is over, the students must reflect on their experience in written and oral form. “It was hard, but I understand a little more what my mom went through. Plus, I have a little sister,” Samantha said, adding that she definitely can wait until she gets married to have children.
Samantha’s teacher said although the project seems a bit mature for elementary- aged students, it’s the perfect time to engage them in the conversation and education. “Our philosophy is that the more students know at an earlier age, the more prepared they are to make the difficult decisions when they are in high school,” Pavelic said.
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