Introduction

Parenthood is a serious task that warrants thorough preparation and great commitment. A mother primarily acts as the caretaker and the father as the familys breadwinner (SEDL, 2011). A parent needs to engage in multiple tasks such as earning for a living, providing a nurturing environment conducive for growth and development and most importantly, taking care of the children. These (parental) responsibilities start at the moment of conception until the children reach their potentials (Stacey, 2011). SEDL (2011) mentioned that becoming a parent is a life-altering experience. If it is a life altering experience, how then can a teen ager perform the job of a real parent? If we students sometimes cannot even do all our assignments what more to a teen age parent who has an obligation to look after a child? Teenagers might be overwhelmed to the responsibilities unfamiliar to them and experience difficulties as they face this new chapter of their lives. Teenagers are supposed to be in school, developing themselves to reach their potentials, having fun with their peers and discovering the world. But having a child at an early age may lead them to sacrifice their time for socializing to just adapting the new role of becoming a parent. Some teenage parents we know, sometimes are having difficulty in managing their time and resources. Their attention is divided between school and parenthood. Experiences truly differ from one person to another. Taking in cosideration that this study will be conducted in Baguio City, Philippines the socio-historical setting is different from that of other countries. The presented facts brought curiousity among the researchers to therefore know the lived experience of teen age parents.

CACHO, Christopher DOCTOR, Pamela LIMANGAN, Rapunzel