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Baby Think It Over™
Some decisions last a lifetime...
As a world leader in health and sexuality education, Planned Parenthood of Western
Pennsylvania (PPWP) presents an extensive variety of programs to thousands of
youths, parents, and professionals. PPWP offers the Baby Think It Over™
program to educate teenagers about the responsibility of caring for a newborn
infant.
The Baby Think It Over Experience™
| Baby Think It Over™ is an infant simulator used to provide young adults with the
experience of parenting an infant. It is a serious tool that was created to help
each participant make responsible, informed choices about becoming a parent. |
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The lifelike Baby Think It Over™ doll is twenty inches in length and weighs seven
to eight pounds. The authentic look and feel is complemented by its sound. An
internal computer simulates an infant crying at realistic, random intervals of
fifteen minutes to six hours, 24 hours a day.
Baby Think It Over™ will cry if it needs to be fed or comforted or if it is placed in
an improper position. The teen "parent" wears a nontransferable key necessary
for "feeding" the infant. When the doll cries, the key is inserted as the baby is
held to stop it from crying.
"Feedings" can take up to thirty-five minutes. The doll's internal computer also
registers incidences of neglect and abuse. The PPWP instructor will be able to
determine the number of times the baby was handled roughly as well as the
number of minutes that its crying was ignored.
Teens that participate in the Baby Think It Over™ simulation are responsible not
only for the "baby," but also for the items that go along with child care.
Participants are required to transport the infants in carriers and keep a fully
stocked diaper bag with them at all times. These materials are provided by
PPWP.
While the program provides a reasonable, realistic simulation of parenting, there
are significant differences between it and a real infant. PPWP has developed a
curriculum around the Baby Think It Over™ doll that provides the teens with a
balanced picture of the positive and negative aspects of parenting, and enhances
the program's overall effect.
The Baby Think It Over™ program opens up a wide range of topics including postponing sexual
involvement, birth control options, the difficulties of single parenting and the
medical factors in teen pregnancy. PPWP educators are able to tailor the Baby
Think It Over™ program to the specific needs of the school or organization. The
educators are able to take situations experienced by teen parents and provide
valuable information on teen pregnancy prevention.
The Baby Think It Over™ program can only be implemented by
trained education staff from PPWP. It is recommended that participants become
"parents" for at least two nights. Teens often receive dolls on a Friday and
return them on a Monday.
Bringing Baby Think It Over™ To You
In order to maintain our high quality education services, it is necessary to charge
a $100.00 program fee. All of our education program fees are negotiable so that
we may continue to enable organizations or schools with limited budgets to utilize
our services. Planned Parenthood is committed to providing education programs
like Baby Think It Over™; if your budget is tight, please call us and we will do our
best to accommodate you.
To further instill a sense of responsibility and ownership in participating teens,
and to help prevent harm to the dolls, we do request a non-negotiable $10.00
deposit per doll, entirely refundable as long as the dolls sustain no permanent
damage.
For more information or to enroll in the program please call 412-434-8969 or email community.edu@ppwp.org.
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