School programs making use of fake dolls or baby simulators to teach teenagers about parenting responsibilities and dissuade them from getting pregnant early might actually be counter-productive. Experts in a new study revealed that teens who have handled fake babies for the class had higher propensity for pregnancy before they reach 20-years-old.
The study, which was published in The Lancet journal, revealed that among the teenage girls enrolled in the school's baby simulator programs in Australia, some 36 percent were actually likely to get pregnant early. Eight percent of the girls actually did, while nine percent already sought abortion.
These results were compared to other girls taking standard classes on abstinence and parenting, where the girls showed less propensity for teen pregnancy. The study involved over 2,800 teenage girls from 57 schools across Australia for seven years. The girls were in the ages of 13 to 15.
The students who participated in the baby simulator programs were asked to care for a fake baby for at least six days. The dolls were fed, changed, burped and rocked to sleep, and everything was measured and tracked. But aside from taking care of the fake baby, the students were also supposedly taught about the dangers of smoking, drugs, sex, contraception and other parent-readiness lessons.
However, the experts said that the teenage girls might have formed an attachment to the fake babies, thus failing to dissuade them from becoming parents early. What it perpetuated instead was for the girls who got pregnant early, it actually helped them decide to keep their baby.
"It's one thing to get results to say it doesn't work, it's another to get results that does the opposite," said the study's author Sally Brinkman via ABC News. She admitted that they were surprised with the results of the study.
Other countries looking into adapting the same system in their schools, such as the United States, might have to reconsider their plans in helping reduce teen pregnancy. "Simulated motherhood may create actual babies and motherhood," said Dr. Cora Collette Breuner from the American Academy of Pediatrics, via CBS News. "This is not an effective intervention, but a more comprehensive program is," she added.
