The Parenting Simulation That Prepared a Teenager for Life’s Sacrifices – How a Unique High School Course Shaped Her Perspective
In the United States, teenage pregnancy has become a serious social problem. Many young girls have to suspend their studies after pregnancy and childbirth, ruining their supposedly beautiful lives. At the same time, the abandonment rate of infants and young children has risen sharply, triggering various social conflicts. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that teenage pregnancy and childbearing problems cost the United States $10.9 billion a year.
In order to reduce the pregnancy rate and birth rate of teenage girls, the US health department and all walks of life have devoted themselves to carrying out publicity and education for many years, advising teenagers to be cautious about sexual behavior. Some high schools in the United States have even set up “parenting courses” to dissuade those boys and girls who are dazzled by love and passion through trivial and hard parenting experiences.
When Nanjing girl Sheng Qian was in high school in the United States, she personally experienced this parenting course that made countless boys and girls frightened and miserable…
Strange Course
In early August 2022, 16-year-old Nanjing girl Sheng Qian flew to the United States. Under the arrangement of her aunt Sheng Xiaoli, she is about to enter a private high school in Oregon, USA.
Sheng Xiaoli has immigrated to the United States for many years. Knowing that Sheng Qian failed the high school entrance examination and failed to get into the high school she wanted, Sheng Xiaoli suggested to her brother Sheng Kai to let her study in the United States. Seeing that his daughter was very moved, Sheng Kai, who loved her like his life, entrusted his sister to contact the school for her daughter regardless of the high tuition fees.
Everything was new, and Sheng Qian was not only excited, but also a little nervous. August 17th is the day of school registration. In addition to learning materials, Sheng Qian actually received a “simulation robot baby” in a baby basket. Before she could understand what was going on, the baby in her hand suddenly burst into tears. Sheng Qian screamed in fright, and threw the baby basket and doll aside. Seeing this, a teacher named Charlie said to her seriously: “I am the instructor of parenting, I’m sorry, but you were deducted 3 points for beating the baby!
” “Baby”, asked in not-so-fluent English: “Should I take care of it? But I’m here to study.” At that moment, she suddenly had some doubts. Could it be that she was tricked into the legendary “Pheasant School”? Charlie saw her doubts and explained to her…
It turns out that teenage pregnancy has always been regarded as one of the social problems in the United States. Abortion is prohibited by law in many states in the United States, and the most direct consequence of teenage births is the increase in single mothers. Half of teenage mothers in the United States fail to complete high school, and the poverty rate for single mothers in the United States is as high as 42%. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that teenage pregnancy and childbearing problems cost the United States $10.9 billion a year. In recent years, the US health department and all walks of life have been committed to reducing the pregnancy rate and birth rate of adolescent girls. Through publicity and education, adolescents are advised to be cautious about sexual behavior and learn to protect themselves. For this reason, some high schools in the United States have set up “parenting courses”, aiming at persuading those boys and girls who are dazzled by love and passion through complicated, trivial and extremely hard parenting experiences.
After some explanations, Charlie reminded Shengqian again: Parenting course is a compulsory course, and if she fails the course, it will affect the issuance of the graduation certificate. Sheng Qian looked at the “baby” in her hand and couldn’t laugh or cry: I just left the care of my parents, why was I forced to upgrade to “parent”?
Sheng Qian carefully studied the robot doll, and found that it was made of silicone, with a built-in computer program, connected to a bracelet, and a key on the bracelet. When taking care of the baby, the key must be inserted into the card slot to start the computer. Divider to record the situation of the baby being cared for. In addition, there is a “birth certificate” in the baby basket, which shows the baby’s name and date of birth.
That night, during a video call with her mother, Sheng Qian talked about this incredible course: “Did you know? I became a mother right after I arrived in the United States! My daughter is named Jenny, and she is three months old!” said Then, she showed her silicone baby to her mother. Mother Liu Zhen was at a loss and finally figured out what was going on. Previously, Liu Zhen had been worried about whether her daughter, who was far away from her, could take good care of herself. Now she had another layer of worry: could her spoiled daughter be a qualified “mother” and successfully get her graduation certificate?
Liu Zhen’s worries are not superfluous. Not long after she finished talking with her daughter, her daughter made another video call. This time, Sheng Qian looked sad and asked for help: “It keeps crying, what should I do?” Liu Zhen reminded her daughter: “Maybe it is hungry?” At this time, a notification sounded on the doll: “It takes 15 minutes for breastfeeding to meet the standard.” Sheng Qian held the feeding bottle in one hand, and flipped through the manual of the simulated doll with the other, but after 15 minutes, the doll was still crying. Sheng Qian was distraught. She knew that if the baby continued to cry, she might be complained by her neighbors for nuisance.
In desperation, Sheng Qian had no choice but to call Teacher Charlie for help. Charlie reminded her: “Have you hiccupped after feeding? You have to read the instructions carefully, it says the correct way to burp.” Sheng Qian hurriedly thanked her, then hung up the phone and imitated the hiccupping position according to the instructions. After a few minutes, the baby finally stopped crying.
Being a “mother” is not
easy. Jenny made Sheng Qian feel the difficulty of being a parent. Like a real human baby, this silicone baby often cries without warning. The reason for crying may be hunger, poop, or cold. If it is not comforted within the specified time, Points will be deducted. On the first day of taking care of Jenny, Sheng Qian was deducted points for not burping in time after feeding. And her classmates were no luckier than her. They were deducted points for various reasons: some forgot to touch the baby after bathing, some didn’t change the baby’s diaper in time, and some didn’t give the baby timely when the weather changed. Adding or subtracting clothes… If you deduct too many points, it means that you have to spend more time retaking the course until you pass it.
Like Sheng Qian, these high school students were all miserable. No matter when and where, as long as the baby cries, they have to put down everything in their hands, breastfeed in a hurry, put them to sleep nervously, and some people are like Sheng Qian, who collapsed because they couldn’t find the reason for the baby’s continuous crying… Boys and girls Fatigue is evident, but the face that should be full of youthful vitality often has an expression of lovelessness.
After taking care of Jenny for a week, Sheng Qian lost weight visibly. Unbearable, she ran to her aunt’s house crying, and begged her aunt: “Can you raise it for me for a while? This is so frustrating. I haven’t slept well for several days!” Of course, Sheng Xiaoli loves her niece, but she is rational Tell her that for Sheng Qian who has been living in a greenhouse and doesn’t know the sufferings of the world, this is undoubtedly the best opportunity to experience it. More importantly, the degree of openness in New York is by no means comparable to that in China. She worried that Sheng Qian could not withstand the temptation of the outside world and fell in love with pregnancy early. For this reason, she had to let Sheng Qian personally experience the hard work of raising a baby in order to serve as a warning. Therefore, Sheng Xiaoli was cruel and rejected Sheng Qian’s request.
Like Sheng Qian, many students turned to their parents for help because they couldn’t bear the hardship of raising children. As a result, these high-demand silicone babies not only tortured high school students, but also tortured their parents, making the family miserable. Sheng Qian’s classmate Lucy complained to her: “My mother said that this child is 10,000 times more troublesome than when I was a child! She also warned me not to have a child before graduating from university, otherwise, I will be the most stupid woman in the world !”
Lucy’s complaints made Sheng Qian realize that this parenting course not only warns high school students, but also warns their parents to a certain extent, asking them to strengthen supervision and education of their children, which is much better than simply preaching!
Without the help of her aunt, Shengqian had no choice but to continue “raising the children” by herself. Looking at the “little baby” in her arms, she was in a daze for a moment: Did my mother hold me like this many years ago when I was young? Facing me crying, is she also so at a loss? With this situation, Sheng Qian couldn’t help sighing: “This is really the reincarnation of time!”
The process of taking care of the “baby” made Sheng Qian realize the difficulty of being a parent, and she tried to treat it with a gentle and loving heart. Jenny this “little life”. But even so, she still has moments of breakdown and pain. Once, Sheng Qian had a cold and a fever. But Jenny would not be considerate of “Mom” because of this, and she still cried loudly. Helpless, Sheng Qian had no choice but to force herself to get up and nurse, and then completed the “burp” procedure. However, Jenny was still crying. Sheng Qian tried her best, but still couldn’t find the reason.
At this time, Jenny had been crying for half an hour. Sheng Qian’s emotions gradually lost control, she grabbed Jenny and threw it to the ground heavily. With a computer prompt saying “Your parenting course failed because of violent beating of a baby”, Sheng Qian recovered from her irritability: What a pity, she failed the course! After realizing the consequences, Sheng Qian could no longer care about her sick and weak body, picked up Jenny and rushed to school.
Sheng Qian found Teacher Charlie and sincerely apologized. Knowing that Sheng Qian was ill, Mr. Charlie expressed his understanding. In fact, the purpose of setting up this course in the school is to let teenagers experience the difficulty of being a parent, so that this extremely arduous process can become a fire extinguisher for teenagers when they are hormonally excited. Scores for this course are not a measure of learning. So, after getting an assurance from Sheng Qian to “take good care of Jenny”, Charlie gave her another chance.
different harvest
After obtaining Teacher Charlie’s understanding, Sheng Qian took back “Jenny” whose score was cleared, which also meant that she had to start from scratch and learn to be a qualified mother. Sheng Qian, who is like “surviving after a catastrophe”, can’t help but think of her primary school days: on Mother’s Day that year, under the arrangement of the school, all classes carried out the “protect eggs” activity: every student’s clothes were covered with Tie a raw egg, and within a day, the student who can ensure that the raw egg is returned to the teacher intact will get a little red flower. After many years, Sheng Qian still remembers the words of the teacher: Your parents, just like you protect eggs at this moment, take care of you carefully.
The parenting course not only made Sheng Qian realize the difficulty of her parents, so she was full of gratitude to her parents, but also made her feel awed by the behavior of childbearing. Every time I managed to comfort Jenny, she would remind herself in her heart: Before graduating from university, I will never go too far!
At this time, the 16-year-old Sheng Qian was already slim. A boy named William in the class often took the initiative to tutor her in English, and the two gradually became friends. However, after getting along for a long time, the way William looked at Sheng Qian began to change. His sometimes blurred eyes made Sheng Qian feel a little uncomfortable.
The ignorant feelings of boys and girls are beautiful, but once they cross the threshold, it may cause heavy consequences. This is the profound experience given to Sheng Qian in the parenting class. Therefore, when William showed her affection again, Sheng Qian clearly expressed her thoughts: “I hope to be friends with you, a friend with a sense of boundaries!” Of course, the smart William understood what Sheng Qian meant
, But he still couldn’t help lobbying: “This is normal in the United States, we have the right to love freely.” Sheng Qian was unmoved: “But I come from China, and I must follow the traditions and rules my parents taught me. Besides, studies What’s the future?” Sheng Qian’s refusal was straightforward, and William had nothing to say for a moment. At this moment, there was a cry from the baby basket beside William, and William frowned: “It’s so troublesome, it’s time to feed again.” He said the most cruel words in his mouth, but did the most “cowardly” thing in his hands Son—I saw him pick up the “son” deftly, insert the key, breastfeed, burp, and change the diaper, all in one go.
After doing all this, William has already put the confession matter behind him. Maybe it is the impulse of youth that comes and goes quickly, or maybe it is the timely crying of the baby, which becomes a hindrance to impulsiveness-after all, puppy love is risky. The young man in fresh clothes doesn’t want to be imprisoned in the cumbersomeness of feeding bottles and diapers early on. Therefore, William changed the subject and said to Sheng Qian: “Can you take care of the baby for me, I’m going to play ball!” Sheng Qian did not refuse this request, she took the baby basket from William’s hand and said, “Let’s go!” Come on, my friend, you won’t refuse me to watch you play, will you?” William danced happily: “Of course, ma’am, I would like you to be my audience!” A possible “youth accident” just like that It ended early with the cry of a simulated baby.
In a blink of an eye, the time has come to June 2023, and the parenting class is about to end. According to Charlie’s request, at the end of the parenting course, Sheng Qian and her classmates need to submit a report on raising a baby. This report not only includes the experience of raising a baby, but also needs to calculate the cost of raising a baby. After understanding and calculating the prices of baby products such as milk powder, diapers, and clothes in detail, Sheng Qian couldn’t help gasping: Such a small child needs such a large expense?
Sheng Qian thought further, how much money and painstaking effort it would cost her parents to raise her to such an age and then send her abroad to study! In terms of money, it can still be rewarded, but how can the love and hard work of parents be measured and how can they be rewarded? Only by adopting a child can one know the kindness of the parents. After submitting the parenting report, Sheng Qian suddenly misses her parents very much. That day, through a video call, she expressed her gratitude to her mother for the first time: “Mom, I love you! You have worked so hard for raising me!” My daughter is now sensible! Liu Zhen couldn’t help but burst into tears…
During her first school year in the United States, Sheng Qian lived up to her parents’ high expectations and achieved excellent grades in all subjects, even getting close to full marks in parenting. Completion of the parenting class means returning “daughter” Jenny who has been with her day and night for more than nine months. Inexplicably, a moment of reluctance flashed in Sheng Qian’s heart. Although she was often tortured to sleepless nights and almost collapsed, she had long been used to taking care of babies, and gradually developed feelings for her “daughter” Jenny. However, if Sheng Qian was asked “Do you still want to continue taking care of babies” or “Would you like to take care of a real baby”, she would still shake her head firmly. After all, she knew very well that she had to finish her studies and be mentally and financially prepared before she could truly take on the responsibility of being a mother.
The experience of being Jenny’s “mother” is destined to become an indelible memory in Sheng Qian’s youth. In Sheng Qian’s view, the establishment of parenting courses in American high schools can be said to be the ultimate in preventing problems before they happen. After experiencing the hardships of raising children, most boys and girls, like Sheng Qian, realize that raising a baby is not easy. Therefore, in the face of impulse and temptation, they may think twice before acting instead of acting rashly. After all, after having tasted the embarrassment and hardship of raising a baby, who doesn’t want to cherish the time of youth flying freely?
