For the first time at Oakdale High School, Ms. Ehrlich’s AP Psychology students have been responsible for caring for a sock baby. Throughout the span of three days, individuals got to hand-pick, customize, and care for babies. The rules of a      sock baby were strict, just like if they had a real baby. They could not leave it unsupervised, and if they had work or any additional after-school activities where they could not bring their baby, they had to find a babysitter. 

While some students were highly responsible and had no problems watching their babies and caring for them, others found this task difficult. 

A couple of anonymous students gave insight on their experiences with the babies, “I also should have checked to make sure [my] baby was still in her car seat while I backed up my car; that would have prevented her from getting run over.”

One student claimed, “Another challenge I faced was getting a babysitter. My parents weren’t home, so my neighbor volunteered to babysit for me when I went to my basketball practice. I was very grateful and handed her over to them. I was gone for about two hours, and once I came back the baby was ripped to shreds by their dog, the baby died.”

Another student explained, “It was apparent that not only were the hallways crowded, but no one cared about me carrying a child. I would constantly get bumped into, and my baby was constantly at risk.” Being put in a situation where these students were required to be responsible, it is safe to say they have learned many lessons about the real world. 

Junior Emma Carey mentions, “[Don’t] leave them with untrusted people who will ruin them.” Carey realized how important this is since, typically, parents don’t leave their children with random adults.

One of the biggest takeaways from this project for all students should be that caring for a child is a lot of work. As Junior Emily Kerns says, “To know that children need a lot of attention and they cannot fend for themselves.”

Overall, many students thoroughly enjoyed this activity, and the AP Psychology class hopes to keep doing this for many years to come, as it teaches a valuable lesson through real life application.