Manyschools try to emphasize that teens should not be having sex, but, if they do,they should do it safely. One of their main goals is to prevent students fromgetting pregnant. Years ago, a program called "Baby Think it Over" wasintroduced. It was designed to teach teens the reality of caring for a baby bydesigning a doll that simulates what a real baby is like. The students have to benear the baby at all times and listen for its cries. When it cries, they eitherhave to feed, rock, burp, or change its diaper. If students fail to do so, theyget points deducted from their score. Other point deductions occur when thebaby's head is snapped back, if it is placed in the wrong position, or handledtoo roughly.

I believe this program should be stopped, or at least madeoptional. It is very easy to make mistakes and often difficult to score well. Inaddition to the many ways points can be deducted, the students have to wear awristband with an identity key attached to insert into the baby when it criesbefore they feed it, burp it, etc. If the identity keys are detached from thestudent at any time, they either fail, or have to do the project again. Thismakes it impossible for anyone else to care for the baby.

When I told myparents I was getting "the baby," they didn't care. But when I broughtit home, they started complaining as soon as it began crying. They wereespecially annoyed that I couldn't let anyone else take care of it, which is oneof the main reasons I think the program should be stopped. Many times, studentshave inflexible schedules, and can't be near the baby all the time. When they'redoing the "Baby Think it Over" project, they must alter everythingplanned for that week. I had this problem, too. I ended up having many argumentswith my family over obligatory activities that made it hard for me to care for mybaby. In the end, we had to cancel a pre-paid tennis lesson, and a tutor.

In addition to these inconveniences, the baby also cries in the middle ofthe night, which makes you lose lots of sleep, making it hard to focus on schoolthe next day.

The "Baby Think it Over" program is also anuisance during school. Because the baby cries there too, many teachers getannoyed and ask you to leave. This has often occurred and it seems that manyteachers don't like this program. They complain just like parents. This projectcan, therefore, affect the students' grades too, because they are forced to missclasses. Also, if you have a test, the baby could make you miss that class, aswell as making it almost impossible to study without the baby interrupting everycouple of minutes.

The baby makes it hard to participate in after-schoolsports. Many coaches, including mine, get angry when students have to care forthe baby in the middle of a game or practice.

The "Baby Think itOver" program is one of the worst ways to teach students not to havechildren before they finish school. The baby causes many problems for the studentat home and in school. As a result, instead of its original intent to help astudent, it does the opposite.