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The Vox Box

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Robot Baby

After reading the 14 babies post, I thought about the experiences I have had with multiple babies. There aren't very many. I expanded it to taking care of baby(s) single handedly. I babysit, but very rarely do I get to take care of babies. However, as part of the Child Development class at our school, students are expected to take home a RealCare baby for 1 weekend. The baby functions much like a real baby does: it cries, it gets hungry, needs to be fed, can experience Shaken Baby Syndrome, and requires actual care.

During a simulation, Baby cries to be cared for as a real infant would. The participant must determine what Baby needs and respond in a timely manner. Baby must be fed, burped, rocked and diapered around the clock.
Baby tracks its care (rocking, diapering, feeding, burping) and safe handling. Detailed data can be downloaded after the simulation, including exact times of missed care events, and specific mishandling—Shaken Baby, head support failure, wrong positioning and rough handling.

 How realistic a view do you believe this represents for parenting? It is primarily used in teen parenting classes or Child Development classes. It's definitely not like the real thing, but do you think it would deter a potential mother from having a baby in her teen years? Have you ever cared for one of these babies? What was your experience like?

In 2006, then-editor Steve Smith of The Spokesman-Review had the idea of starting a publication for an often forgotten audience: teenagers. The Vox Box was a continuation of the Vox, an all-student staffed newspaper published by The Spokesman-Review. High school student journalists who staffed the Vox made all content decisions as they learn about the trade of journalism. This blog's mission was to give students an opportunity to publish their voices. The Vox Box and the Vox wrapped up in June 2009, but you can follow former staffers' new blog at http://voxxiez.blogspot.com.