The Journey and Lived Experience of Dropout, Hispanic, Teen Fathers

The dropout phenomenon in the United States is an ongoing concern, especially regarding teen fathers. The purpose of this qualitative phenological study was to examine how Hispanic men who fathered a child as adolescent understood and made sense of their lived experiences of dropping out of high school and later returning to their studies. Semi-structured interviews were utilized to gather the data. An analysis of the findings was conducted, revealing the themes of emotional distress, expectations, hard lessons, and the impact of fatherhood. The themes were then applied to the theorical framework of Sensemaking. The results revealed that the participants made the conscience decision to leave high school in order to meet their financial responsibilities of fatherhood. The schools had limited or no outreach efforts for the participants. The participants returned to obtain their GED or high school diploma to better themselves and the situation for their child.