'Time to burp your flour bag'

14 May 2015 - 02:07 By RDM Newswire

Text messages have replaced text books when it comes to teaching grade 8 to 12 pupils at Burgundy Estate's Riverside College about the responsibilities of parenthood. Boys and girls at the private school in Cape Town are given a "newborn baby" - a freshly talcum-powdered 2.5kg bag of flour - and instructed to send text messages, such as "Your baby needs a nappy change", throughout the day and night. This is intended to simulate the real-life and unpredictable experience of parenting."By using text messages that are sent at random times, we could replicate a real-life scenario," said the principal, Dave Swart.About 21000 schoolgirls, including 717 still in primary school, became pregnant in the 2013-2014 financial year. ..

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