TV Review : ‘Flour Babies’ Dramatizes Just-Say-No-to-Sex Lesson

An innovative, real-life classroom experiment aimed at fostering sexual responsibility among teen-agers is the basis for “Flour Babies,” a new “CBS Schoolbreak Special” today at 3 p.m. on Channels 2 and 8.

Directed by Linda Lavin, this off-beat, just-say-no-to-sex drama focuses on a health class assignment that was created to combat a high student pregnancy rate.

Students become make-believe parents. Their “babies”--5-pound sacks of flour--must be cared for 24 hours a day for three weeks. That means being toted to class, shopped for and taken to the doctor. If a student wants time off, “child care” must be provided.

Before long, the flour babies have become surprisingly real to the new parents. When it’s over, all agree that it’s not a responsibility they’re ready for.

Carrie (Susan Vanech) gets the message. Her boyfriend (Ian Ziering) has been pressuring her for sex. The best part of Paul Cooper’s script is Carrie’s discovery that she has the strength to choose what’s right for her.

Helping teens see abstinence as an acceptable method of choice is important, but this one-hour drama may be too unsubtle. Carrie’s birth control talk with a health clinic counselor (“Cosby’s” Sabrina LeBeauf) is so uncomfortable for her that some young viewers might be deterred from seeking needed information.