Life skills classes at New Market Middle School had a project where students carried around bags of sugar dressed in baby clothes. This experience shows students a portion of what parenting is like. In AP Psychology class, Mrs. Samria Diggs assigned students to carry around a stuffed animals of their choice for five class days.

They had to treat their animals like a real babies and take care of them at school and at home. Some students were great parents and others struggled.

“The goal of the project was for the students to have a fun way to learn about developmental psychology and apply it to their baby,” said Diggs.

Most students enjoyed the project as their baby would go through the different stages of childhood. They said that the most challenging part of the project was remembering to bring their baby to school and other places since it didn’t cry and act like an actual baby.

“The project was cool. It was different from any other project that I’ve done so far,” said Class of 2022 member Jacob Cannon.

During class, Diggs would relate child development  psychology vocabulary and concepts back to the project.

“My favorite part of the project was relating it to the terms we were learning about and using in class,” said Class of 2022 member Mikayla Moxley.

The project included cognitive development, physical development, and social development. These all play a role in children growing up.

A few neglected their babies, leaving them in a car or a desk.

“It was difficult to remember my baby. I left it in my car a couple times and had to go get it during first period. That wasn’t fun,” said Cannon.

“Parenting is not easy. I’d tell future parents to not forget their kids,” said Class of 2022 member Emma Watkins.