Electronic Babies

In the middle school in my town, 3 girls out of approximately 150 students have gotten pregnant in the last year and a half. One of the girls, according to town gossip, had a self-induced abortion - a potentially fatal procedure but often the only option for pregnant girls who don't want to have a baby, since abortion is illegal in Guatemala. The other two girls dropped out of (middle) school and got married, to other middle school students who I believe also dropped out in order to work to support their new families.

It's hard to tell what exactly could be the cause of so many pregnancies and what could possibly be done to prevent future ones. But, it's hard to sit back and do nothing. Sex ed is already a large part of the Peace Corps curriculum that Guatemalan teachers have been using in that school, and through my teacher observations I have seen that the teacher that gives sex ed does a pretty good job of it - she's not afraid to get into details, and always presents correct information. So, not much I could do there.

Remembering a program that my Peace Corps boss had told us about, I went to a local health agency that specializes in sexual health and family planning and asked for information about their "electronic babies" program. In this program, students "adopt" a robot that literally looks and acts just like a baby - it cries when it's hungry, cold, needs it's diaper changed, or is in pain, and doesn't stop crying until it's needs are met. Each baby records how it is treated during the adoption period (how quickly its needs were responded to, whether it was physically abused, etc.) and gives the students a score at the end. The idea is that the kids will realize how much work it takes to take care of a baby, and what they would have to sacrifice if they were to get pregnant (schooling, free time with friends, etc.).

The project initially wasn't very popular with the parents, who weren't crazy about having a crying robot in their house overnight. But eventually some of them warmed up to it, and because the director was so supportive of the project, he decided to go ahead and make it mandatory for all of the 8th grade students, even for the ones whose parents didn't approve. We decided that the students would pair up to adopt the babies, and that the baby would spend 24 hours (one night) with each student.

Last week, the director of the program came to the school and gave the students a great talk about early pregnancy, concentrating on the harm that it can do to a young girl's body, including causing death. She also talked about responsible parenting, and how one needs to be economically, mentally, and physically mature to adequately support a child. She prepped the students on the baby project, telling them all of the different things they would need to do to adequately care for their "child".

Then, today: the babies! Although the kids weren't too excited at first about the project, the minute that a baby was whipped out of its box, several of the students (especially the girls) got misty-eyed and could wait to hold it. The students were responsible for bringing clothing for the babies, and for naming him/her.

Presenting a baby to the students after the responsible parenthood talk. (Remind anyone else of The Lion King?)

Even though the students weren't excited about the project
at first,  many of them got instant googly eyes when
they actually saw the babies

Two male "parents" with their adoptive baby (notice the Spiderman socks). This baby is named after me!

The students get no choice in the sex or color of their baby, just like in real life. Although many of the students didn't want "morenito/a" (dark) baby,
instead preferring the blanquito/as, the program director explained to them that it's important to love children equally regardless of their
physical appearances. The students' color discrimination mostly traces to the racism against indigenous Guatemalan people, most of whom have
darker skin than non-indigenous people.

The program director "turning on" one of the babies. Notice it's adorable outfit -
the students were responsible for providing the babies' clothing.

Two happy "parents" - these girls told me that the "only problem" was that they were "lesbians", to which I responded that "it's ok, lesbians can have
families too!" They probably thought I was joking (homosexuality is still pretty unaccepted and taboo in Guatemala), but I hope that the
oh-so-obviously gay male student that was standing next to us was paying attention. Also, note that this baby's shirt says "baby got back".

 

 Two more happy "families". Notice the boy holding the (pink) baby bag in the second picture - who says Guatemalan men are machista?

All of the students knew to bring blankets for the babies, and they all wrapped them in the same way, even the boys.
 I think they know more about taking care of babies than I do!

Classes today were frequently punctuated by the sounds of babies crying, but fortunately the teachers didn't seem to mind, and were pretty fascinated by the babies. My only hope is that the kids don't fall too in love with their new "children"!