Recently, when walking through the hallways, everywhere you turn you see students carrying a baby doll. Most of the school has figured out that it is for a sociology project. But the project is more interesting and complex than what we see.
In sociology students are currently in the marriage and family life unit. For the project in this unit, students get assigned a spouse who they take care of their child with, with the option to get a divorce from the spouse if wanted. With the spouse, students have to figure out life elements such as jobs, housing, money, clothing, vacations and activities. ”It makes you realize the cost of things like food, housing, and the cost of other necessities,” sophomore sociology student Becca Hwang said.
The project requires that there is always someone watching the child during the school day. Sociology teacher Amy Buckingham has her AP psychology students act as child protective services (CPS), undercover. If these undercover students see a student abusing or mistreating their baby then they can take the baby from them. If this happens there will be a court hearing in class to regain custody of the baby. Students can also fight for the custody of the child if the spouse has been found mistreating the child.
Some students are self-conscious about bringing their babies around school so Buckingham created a daycare where students can leave their babies during the school day without taking much money out of their budget. She wanted the daycare to simulate the daycare we have at school where teachers can drop their kids off while they work for an affordable price.“I get weird looks in the halls when I am carrying my baby,” Hwang said.
The assignment is graded based on journal entries completed by students that ask questions like what they are doing for housing and how they are budgeting their money. They also have to take photos every day of them doing activities with their babies and pictures with their spouses. This causes students to ”think about the impact and consequences of their decisions on others,” Buckingham said.
This project allows students to have fun with learning. Students liked the project as it teaches them responsibility in an enjoyable way. “I think this was a helpful project since it taught us a lot about responsibility,” junior Abby Brodsky said.
Buckingham wanted to make the project as enjoyable as possible without disrupting classes. To make sure the project would not be disruptive, she set up rules and boundaries. For example, the basket under the desk is considered a safe space so students don’t have to worry about caring for their child during class. During the project “teachers are supportive and helpful,” Buckingham said.
Buckingham wants this project to teach students how much small decisions can impact their life. She also wants students to realize how hard parenting is and how expensive it is to raise a child. “I want them to learn how many layers there are to what seem like small decisions,” Buckingham said.
