BUSINESSMAN THINKS DOLL COULD TEACH RESPONSIBILITY

Ralph Flori Sr. thinks Cape Girardeau high school students could benefit from a "cry baby," and he's willing to buy one.

The heating and air conditioning contractor thinks "Baby Think It Over," a life-like doll that cries, could teach students valuable lessons about parenthood.

Since coming on the market last summer, the dolls have been purchased by a number of school districts around the nation.

About 300 to 400 of the dolls are being used in Kentucky schools, many of them in the Louisville area. The dolls are distributed in Kentucky by Southern School Media in Bowling Green, 1-800-736-0288.

The bawling doll was designed by a former aerospace engineer from San Diego as a deterrent to teen pregnancy.

The anatomically correct, eight-pound vinyl bundle of joy has a computer chip that causes it to wail the recorded cries of a real baby at a nearly intolerable volume. The crying comes at random every two to four hours.

The only way to make the bawling baby stop is to hold it for up to 35 minutes and "feed" it by inserting a key into its back. The key is attached to a band worn on the student's wrist.

If you feed it too long, it cries. If you hold it wrong, it cries.

If you shake it too hard, an indicator light signals that the baby has been abused.

If you ignore it, the 20-inch doll keeps crying and an indicator light comes on to call attention to the student's neglect.

The dolls cost $220 each.

Flori said he would be willing to buy the first one for the Cape Girardeau public schools. He challenged other businessmen to follow suit.

"From a Christian standpoint, I don't believe in this abortion thing," Flori said. "I believe in abstinence, and I believe in kids facing reality in bringing children into this world."

High school students don't think about parenting problems. "They think it is cool to have a baby, until they wind up having one," he said.

Flori said he read about the doll in an Associated Press story that was published in the Paducah, Ky., newspaper.

Pat Johnson, who teaches child development at Central High School, said such a doll would be a great improvement over the five-pound bags of flour or salt that are used as substitute babies in her class.

Johnson said students in her class have to carry around the bags of flour or salt for two weeks. They have to dress it. Some students go so far as to put a doll's head on the bags.

"They are only allowed to hire a babysitter if they have a job," she said. "I have a few moms that say they wake up their child at 2 in the morning and say, '~The baby is crying. You need to feed the baby.'"

Johnson said a crying "Baby Think It Over" would add a more realistic tone to the lesson. It would make students think about parental responsibilities.

"You just can't lay it down and walk off," she said.