Life-Size Baby Doll

As Ms. Boylin, my sexual education teacher, placed the doll in my arms, she said, "Congratulations and good luck with your baby girl!"

Every Senior student at Ridgefield Park High School was required to take the sexual education course for one marking period. One of the most important grades I would be receiving in the class depended on how well I took care of a life-size baby doll. The doll was computerized with a crying sound that resembled a real baby's cry. In order to stop the baby from crying, special key needed to be inserted into her back.

It was my turn to take the doll home over the weekend. I put the baby in her car seat and drove home. That night my friends and I made plans to go out and eat. I dressed the baby in a pink, long-sleeve shirt with matching pants and white shoes. Because it was a cool night, I made sure to put her jacket on with a hat I had borrowed from my baby cousin, who lived next door. I also brought diapers, a bottle, and an extra set of clothes in her brown and pink baby bag.

When my friends and I arrived at the restaurant, we sat down and waited for a table. As I was holding the baby doll, I noticed many people giving me weird looks and stares. I thought to myself, "I'm a young girl with a baby in my arms. Of course people are going to assume she is real and that she is mine."

I tried to pay no attention to other customers at the restaurants. My friends and I acted as if the doll was real. We played, tickled, and even spoke to her.

We were finally seated in the restaurant and the waiter asked if I needed a high chair. I could not help but laugh as I showed him that it was actually a doll. He also began to laugh and brought a high chair along with a kid's menu.

After we finished eating, we went to the mall. While my friends were looking at clothes and shoes, I was watching them and wishing I could try some on too. Out of nowhere, the baby began to cry hysterically. I quickly put the key into her back so that she would stop crying. A woman who worked in the store asked why I was carrying around a plastic doll and I began to explain until my friends were ready to leave.

The experience with the realistic doll reassured me that I am not ready to be a parent and it also made me realize how quick people are to judge others. On the night I went out with my friends and the baby, people stared and gave me weird looks because they automatically assumed I was a teenage mother. Everyone needs to realize that everything may not be the way they seem to be because of the first impression.

...