The Spotlight
Baby, Baby, Baby....Oh!Friday, March 30, 2012 By Elizabeth Levis
Some say when spring rolls around there is love in the air, but at Southern Lehigh, when spring comes, babies are in the air (not literally of course). Mrs. Gross’s parenting class gets to experience the “reality” of parenthood. Students have the opportunity to take home a “true-to-life” baby and get to practice being a mommy or daddy. These babies are equipped with a microchip that tries to be accurate and makes the baby cry when they would need to be fed, changed, burped, or just loved. No one is exactly certain what time their bundle of joy may throw a hissy fit, but sometimes when they do, it can be quite jaw-dropping. Some students get caught off guard when they are sitting in class and all of the sudden, they hear a crying baby that needs to be changed. The students that are enrolled in parenting usually have the chance to watch over and take care of a baby for two nights; for some that may seem like a millennium. “The babies were a lot of fun, but I didn’t get much sleep. It really taught me responsibility and the fact that I don’t want to be a mom any time soon,” stated Lauren Ortwein. Many students who take parenting and look back say that it taught them responsibility and that childcare is hard work and requires a lot of time. This class gives students the idea of what being a parent can be like, even if only for two days. It’s good to see Southern Lehigh offer a class that teaches responsibility and gives reality of parenthood and how it can be fun, but it requires a lot of attentiveness and time. |