Teens these days are having less sex than past generations and teenage pregnancy rates have steadily dropped, but it's not because of robot baby dolls meant to simulate having a child. A new study has found that instead of preventing teen pregnancy, the dolls may increase the odds of it happening.
The Washington Postreported that a study published in the journal Lancet revealed Australian girls ages 13 to 15 who cared for robot baby dolls were likelier to get pregnant or have an abortion once they reached their early 20s than girls who didn’t care for the dolls. The program being examined was virtual infant parenting (VIP), where teens are made to care for a lifelike baby doll which cries, eats, sleeps, and goes to the bathroom.
Two groups of girls were looked at for the study: 1,267 girls who participated in the VIP program and 1,567 girls who did not. The study found that from the group that did participate in the infant care program, eight percent had at least one child by age 20. In comparison, the rate was only four percent from the group that didn't participate in the program. Nine percent of the group that cared for the dolls reported having at least one abortion, while only six percent of the group that didn't care for the dolls reported having one.
Youth counselor Janette Collins told the Financial Times last year, "It's the very few girls who score really well that you have to look out for. In my experience they're the ones who go off and get pregnant for real—you've accidentally taught them they can cope."
The Centers for Disease Control reported that teen pregnancy in girls ages 15 to 19 fell 13 percent from 2013. This year the CDC reported 30.1 percent of teens are sexually active, compared to the 37.9 percent recorded in 1991.
