These teenagers are taking part in the parenting program. (Image via: Claremont Courier)

Experiencing Hard Parenting Life, Robobabies Tackle Teenage Pregnancy in Colombia

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Sports & Culture
Population
Jun 29, 2019
2251
MEDELLIN - Sometimes, in order to teach someone a lesson, you got to show the consequences to them. Nowadays, teenage pregnancies are not weird, often in fact. If sexual education does not work, let’s teach them what it feels like to be a parent.

In Colombia, the method seems to work like a charm. Caldas Municipality, a city with a population of 78,000, launched a virtual infant parenting program that involves teenagers ranging from age 10-19 to be a “parent” to a robotic baby. The program is called “Baby? Think It Over”. The program is a hit in 89 countries and hailed to be an effective solution to tackle teenage pregnancy.

It is a robot, but don’t get it wrong. Although it is a robot, it does things like a real baby such as being hungry, and of course, the signature bawling. Not to mention, the robot also needs to take a shower and care from these students. In other words, it gives students full experience as a parent. Does it work?

Listen to a story by a 13-year-old girl, Susana Ortegon, a student who got involved in the program. She just knew that having a baby means having a full human package with all of their repercussions, even though it was a robotic baby. At the weekends, she even had to deal with the robotic baby. Imagine waking up at 3 in the morning just to appease the bawling robotic baby. Ortegon describes the feeling as endless misery. Testimonies with similar moaning came from students who underwent the program.

Fortunately, after taking the program, to the question “Would you like to have a baby now?”, they all agreed that it was too early for them, and they could not handle the responsibility of being a good and patient parent. The real parents of these students also hailed the program, as they think that it is encouraging sexual awareness within their teens.

Columbia has been facing teenage pregnancies for years, and thanks to this program, there is a hope to tackle teenage pregnancies in the country. In 2018, the rate of teenage pregnancies went down to 141 from 2017’s 161. Although the program alone cannot solve the issue, the government believes that if combined with other prevention and intervention methods, Colombia can make it through.

Source: https://news.yahoo.com/robot-babies-tackling-teenage-pregnancies-colombia-233437713.html

Culture , Social , Life , Parenting , Sexual-Education , Colombia , Robobaby , Teenage-Pregnancy , MBA