'Adult Roles' classes teach kids about world after high school

If you thought it was bad doing math problems, reading books and writing essays, then chances are you've never taken an Adult Roles class, where homework includes wearing pregnant suits, carrying around a doll that mimics a real baby and managing a budget.

These are some of the things that students have to do while taking an Adult Roles class, taught in many high schools throughout Utah. Students learn about communication, managing households, finding spouses and just about everything that occurs in an adult's life.

Wearing a pregnant suit is just one of the things that students have the option of doing -- and boys and girls seem equally excited about wearing that suit. Russell Bastian, a senior at West Jordan High School, said, "I'm definitely gonna wear it, just because I'm never going to be pregnant, and this gives me the chance to know what it feels like."

Erin Hillstead, also a senior at West Jordan High, also enjoyed the experience of wearing the suit. Hillstead said, "I got special treatment. I got out of a speeding ticket, and I also got a good seat at a restaurant because (people thought) I was pregnant."

The teachers' goals in the classes are to prepare students for the adult world. Linda Dawes, one of the teachers of the Adult Roles class at West Jordan, says she wants teenagers to have a happy life and avoid some of the pitfalls out there in the world. "It's full of a lot of vultures that want to grab them," she says.

The other Adult Roles teacher at West Jordan High, Lois Nielsen, wants to teach students skills that will help them be successful adults. "We can give them simple things that, if they actually follow them and do them, they will have a way happier life."

Students are treated like adults in the classes. They discuss current social issues, parenting and parenting techniques, dating and any other issues of interest to the students.

Sometimes the teachers even get help from the students on problems in their own lives. Dawes says, "You learn something from students every single day."

Nielsen gets advice for dealing with her kids, who are the same ages as high school students. "I give them a problem that we're having at home and say, 'What would you do, class?' And they come up with really great things."

So, if you're wondering about whether or not students in high school are ready for the adult world, just ask a student who has taken an Adult Roles class. Hillstead says, "It's taught me a lot about growing up and what to expect from the real world."

Cody Rogers is a junior at West Jordan High School. If you are going to be a junior in high school next year, anywhere in Utah, and would like to write for Pulse, send an e-mail to Susan Whitney, susan@desnews.com.

Copyright C 2003 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.