Eighth-graders practice caring for newborns with demanding dolls

Published: 2005-03-08

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- When Louie Hernandez's baby begins to cry in the classroom, the eighth-grader gently picks up little Adrian, looking a little bleary-eyed. He says the baby woke him up four times the night before. This story is about teen pregnancy -- sort of. Louie's baby isn't a child, but a lifelike doll he has been assigned to carry and take care of for five days, which provides him a peek at what it is like to be a teen father. At St. Vincent School in Los Angeles, eighth-grade students care for dolls as part of their religion class. Called "Baby Think It Over," the sophisticated $500 doll coos, gurgles, burps, coughs, cries and looks quite cute. The program also teaches each student about the enormous 24-hour demands of parenting. It aims to prevent teen pregnancy and to promote abstinence, values and decision-making. "The students begin to think about their choices and responsibilities in life," said Sister Cabrini Thomas, a Daughter of Charity, who is the principal.

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