Do adolescents take "Baby Think It Over" seriously?

Adolescence, Spring, 2004 by Jerrold E. Barnett, Cynthia S. Hurst

Because BTIO is expensive, some schools can afford only a few simulators, and students experience BTIO at different times throughout the semester. In the Life's Walk program considered here, there were enough simulators so that all students within their particular health courses experienced BTIO simultaneously. This relates to the important issue of how BTIO is used. BTIO can be a cute gimmick that looks good to adults and becomes a silly game for the students. On the other hand, BTIO can serve as the basis for serious educational activities. An essential ingredient may well be teachers who engage students in meaningful discussions and provide real-life examples and supplemental information. Future research needs to examine how BTIO can be used most effectively.

Table 1
Frequency (in Percentages) of Responses to BTIO Survey Items

Item                                    SA       A       D      SD

BTIO made me want to become              5       6      27      63
  a teenage parent

BTIO made me realize how easy           18      48      23      12
  it is to hurt a baby

BTIO made me realize how much fun        7      23      39      31
  babies are

BTIO made me realize I am ready          5       8      35      52
  to become a parent

BTIO helped me decide to wait           38      38      12      12
  to have children

BTIO showed me how it would be          22      51      18      10
  to be a single parent

BTIO made me think I could take care     6      17      41      35
  of a child on my own

BTIO made me more likely to postpone    27      38      22      13
  having sex

Note. SA = strongly agree, A =agree, D = disagree, SD = strongly
disagree.

Table 2
Mean Scores and Standard Deviations on the BTIO Scale
by Gender and Grade

             Females            Males             Total
Grade       M        SD       M        SD       M        SD

Eighth    25.16     4.34    23.67     4.00    24.47     4.70
Tenth     23.79     3.75    22.70     3.72    23.47     3.76
Total     24.71     4.20    23.49     4.79    24.20     4.49

Table 3
Mean Scores and Standard Deviations on BTIO Output by Gender

                        Females            Males

Output                M        SD       M        SD

Neglect              2.31     4.79     2.93     3.75
Total time crying    9.12    17.23    16.87    22.58
Rough handling       .74      1.51     1.92     2.88

Table 4
Mean Scores and Standard Deviations on BTIO Output by Grade

                      8th Grade          10th Grade

Output                M        SD       M        SD

Neglect              1.93     2.87     3.90     7.62
Total time crying   11.87    20.04     9.23    19.15
Rough handling       1.31     2.29      .32      .60

REFERENCES

Brooks-Gunn, J., & Furstenberg, F. F. (1989). Adolescent sexual behavior. American Psychologist, 44, 249-257.

Card, J. J. (1999). teen pregnancy programs: Do any programs work? In J. E. Fielding, L. B. Lave, & B. Starfield (Eds.), Annual review of public health (Vol. 20, pp. 257-285). Annual Reviews, Inc.