It is 1:55 p.m. and school is out for the weekend. As students of the Child Development class head home, they lug their backpacks, car seats and baby. As part of the class, students are required to take care of an interactive baby for 48 hours.
Child Development, like the required health and P.E. courses, covers many different topics that everyone should be educated on. These include birth control, effects of teen motherhood, and so much more. Making this class mandatory would be a way to educate many teenagers on safe, consensual sex, ensuring all students, both male and female, are informed on the whole birthing process.
In 2022, the rates for teen pregnancy were 13.6 births for every 1,000 females ages 15-19 Congress gov. The effects of teen pregnancy on both the person having the baby and everyone that is involved can be very difficult. Having a child while still being a teenager can give teen moms severe postpartum depression according to the National Library of Medicine.
“This class would be helpful for all students, particularly those who may see a future with a family or those who may want to pursue a career in early childhood education, medicine, psychology or teaching,” child development and health teacher Melanie Jozokos said. “The class also teaches students how to budget for raising a family and what things cost in the first year of a child’s life.”
This class can be very beneficial towards educating the average male high school student. There is a large amount of information about teen pregnancy, teen parenting, birth control options, as well as information about the birthing process that male teenagers might not know.
From being a teenager for many years, I have heard about so many instances where male teenagers want to have sex just because they are in a relationship with someone, and their mindset is often that as long as they use a condom, everything will be fine. In most cases, that’s all male teenagers know about birth control and preventing pregnancy because they are not the ones that could become pregnant and have the baby.
“The amount of information on raising children and child development itself that is taught during this class will benefit [our male students] in many ways,” Jozokos said.
Making this class a required course would be very educational for all students, especially those in relationships. The project where students take a simulation baby home for a weekend would influence many students who may be faced with difficult decisions in the future, encouraging them to take the topic of teen pregnancy seriously.
There have been around 20-25% of parents who responded on the parent evaluation form that was given to every student who has participated in the baby project that they think this should be a class every student should take. These results are from Jozokos’ child development classes over the past few years.
The baby project teaches students all the responsibilities of a newborn, and it helps students to understand the consequences of unprotected, or even protected sex. This baby project involves students taking home a doll that is programmed to fuss and cry, day and night, like a real baby. It is a weekend project, so the students will take it home with them after school on Friday, and bring it back Monday morning. The normal time the baby is turned on is from 4 p.m. Friday to 10 p.m. Sunday night. The baby has different cries which the students will have to figure out in order to tend to the baby. The students won’t know when the baby will cry and for how long they will cry for, giving them a glimpse into what it would be like when they become parents. As Jozokos has said before, this project is almost like it’s own form of birth control.
Not every student or parent will agree with making this class a requirement because they might not see it as important. For some people, it is hard to see how a class like this matters when they think they know most of the important information from middle school and freshman year health.
While yes, they might know some information, what they learned when they were younger barely scratches the surface of what teenagers should know and expect as they grow older and get into relationships. For example, sex education is taught at a glance in 5th grade by separating the males and females, but child development goes into depth on what to expect throughout relationships and what happens if the female gets pregnant.
“I definitely think we do need another required health class for students after ninth grade to discuss topics beyond the ninth grade maturity level and to address things more relevant to students at appropriate ages,” Jozokos said.
