Sophomore Shelbey Thomas just became a teen mother. Her boyfriend dumped and abandoned her. Her parents do not want the baby or Thomas in the house, so they kicked her out.  She only has $85 a month to take care of both of their expenses. Now she is responsible for finding a new lifestyle that can be molded to her situation.

Thomas just joined the Baby Game. The Baby Game is an interactive experience for the Child Development classes. Each person is assigned a paper baby that all have different characteristics and issues. Students draw a card at the beginning of every class in order to determine what turn their life will take. Some will take a good turn while others take a turn for the worse. It leads up until finals where the results of the competition are announced and prizes are awarded.

Students in the class also have to take a realistic mechanical baby home for a weekend. Miller explains that they are based on 24 different true babies’ cycle of crying, waking and sleeping. Everyone who has the baby has sole care of it, and no one else can help them. In her opinion, it makes people feel like they don’t want to have kids for a long time.

“They see the restriction on their time, how they wouldn’t be able to go out with their friends because they have to take care of the baby,” Miller said. “They take it to the ball game and here and there. The ones that are cheerleaders or in any kind of sports have to miss practices. You just can’t do it. There are not enough hours in the day to do or maintain your regular schedule as a student and take care of a baby. I think they realize that when they have the baby is how restricting it is for their time and on their friendships, their dating.”

Shows like Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant are becoming increasingly popular. There has been some debate about whether or not these types of programs encourage teen pregnancy.

“It encourages them not to want to become teen mothers because they see a little bit of realism rather than the glamorization that is on TV with some of the shows that are on anymore,” Miller said. “It helps to show them that it is not all fun and games. All these good things don’t happen, although with this one girl that’s pregnant and it is all over the internet. People are glamorizing her and that is bad. Hopefully we are showing them that it is not glamorous.”

Miller says it is most important is to practice abstinence if possible. She also warns not to date a boy for long periods of time and if this is the case and things happen, make sure they you are using a very reliable birth control and to make sure you are using it properly. Also watch out for situations where something bad could happen to you, like being date raped.

“I would offer these pieces of advice because it changes your life,” Miller said. “A baby changes your life. At the right time in your life, a baby is great. But as a teenager it is not the right time. It may keep you from going to college, doing all the things you want to do with your life and all your dreams are crushed under the responsibility of taking care of a baby.”

Media concepts help to influence Tori Wilson‘s view on the statistics of teen mothers.

“The current rate of teen mothers is an issue,” Wilson said. “I don’t know the exact numbers, but I feel like with the media people are thinking that it’s more okay now. I think people get popular because they are pregnant at a young age and so I think more people are doing that now.”

Through her experience, Wilson has also realized some important things that she wasn’t aware of before taking this class.

“I wanted to wait a while until I was out of college and everything,” Wilson said. “But now I have realized I will also have to be financially stable and have good relationships with the people around me and before I have a kid. This class has made me realize how hard having a child is and how you have to have things ready before you get pregnant.”

Wilson feels that her experience with the mechanical baby was better than others and was happy with her baby.

“I actually liked my baby, which a lot of people didn’t, but being able to hear it be happy was really exciting,” Wilson said. “Mine didn’t get up a lot during the night and that was nice. I only had one night where it was up like every hour so I definitely had a good experience compared to others.”

Time was a big realization for Wilson.

“It made me realize that they are 24/7,” Wilson said. “There are no breaks and it made me really tired because I would have to get up at like 10:30 on the weekends where I would normally get up at like twelve.”

Wilson has also realized what certain characteristics a mother should possess before committing to having a child.

“I think my views have been impacted,” Wilson said. “Now I realize that you have to be 100% ready and committed before you have a child. I feel like I have learned about how difficult things could be and how much babies make you angry sometimes. Taking home the baby is the most important thing because it’s like having a real baby and it wakes you up. You have to figure out what it needs.”

Jessica Cannon was a girl who got pregnant in eighth grade with a senior as the father. She became really popular and gave birth when she was 15 and her boyfriend was 17.

“Some people thought it was really stupid,” Wilson said. “But some people thought she was like the coolest thing ever. I think some people want to be like her to be honest because of how much fame she got. I don’t think it was a very smart thing to do as an eighth grader. She lied to the guy about her age. She put a guy in jail and she had a baby when she was 15. That put a huge responsibility on her parents because her parents basically take care of it so I don’t think that was a very wise thing for her to do.”

Shelbey Thomas offers an interesting theory on how the times today are causing greater impacts.

“I haven’t heard too much about it in Kansas,” Thomas said. “I honestly have no idea. I guess it can be because a lot of kids are getting more ‘sexual’. I just feel that kids are being more sexually active. We are in high school and the clothing and technology; how you can do things now could cause a rise of teen mothers.”

Taking Child Development has only reinforced her views on waiting to become a parent.

“Before this class, I didn’t really want kids in high school,” Thomas said. “I wanted to wait until after college and until I met someone I really cared about and that I could see me spending the rest of my life with. This class has only supported it and made me stronger about being abstinent and not having kids at such a young age.”