I recently stumbled across a website that discusses a “social experiment” for middle aged students. Ironically, the name of the article was “Egg Baby” Parenting. Naturally, it caught my eye. In short, the experiment tests students and how they act as the “parent” of an egg for a full week. The students treat the “egg baby” as a real being. They can take the “egg baby” wherever they go, but only with utmost care. The objective of this project was to have the students experience some of the responsibility that is involved in the care of human “babies”. At the end of the assignment, the teacher left a note which i thought was very cute:
NOTE: "Egg Babies" may be decorated or given whatever necessities you feel necessary to make your "baby" more real.
Every morning before class, the teacher checks each student’s egg, making sure it had proper care and is in good condition. The rules for this experiment were very strict. If a student’s “egg baby” is left alone without its “mother”, even for a short time, points are deducted from that students point sheet. The real parents of each student were also asked to be involved. They had to sign a paper shower their involvement and they were officially agreeing to be the “egg baby grandparents”.
At the end of the week, the student were given time to think about their week as parents and really reflect on it. They had to write up a page explaining exactly what they learnt and how they felt about it.
I really liked this experiment. I feel like it’s important for kids to understand the concept of responsibility with someone “alive” or breakable. I think this experiment would be slightly less effective for students who have younger siblings. None the less, it works for anyone. Even adults (dare i say).
I would love to hear what you thought about this. Feel free to comment and give me feedback!
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