Now or Never

The kids are alright: Teen parents figuring it out

Deciding which high school to go to often depends on which ones your friends are going to, not necessarily which one has the best child care. But for Bea Paz and Daniel Clark, the decision to go to Winnipeg's Technical Vocational High School — otherwise known as Tec Voc — came out of Clark's desire to be an involved father.
Bea Paz, Daniel Clark, and their son, Neil Clark at Tec Voc High School. (Kaj Hasselris)

Deciding which high school to go to often depends on which ones your friends are going to, not necessarily which one has the best child care. But for Bea Paz and Daniel Clark, the decision to go to Winnipeg's Technical Vocational High School — otherwise known as Tec Voc — came out of Clark's desire to be an involved father. 

Paz, 18 and Clark, 17 are parents to 10-month-old Neil, who spends his days at the Infant Lab, a child care centre located in the high school. 

"We were going to a different school that didn't have this kind of program, we found that daycare was very expensive and there were long waiting lists and we found that a lot of it was very untrustworthy," said Clark. "We also found that there was one school that was dedicated to only mothers and their child, and I wanted to be there for Neil, so we didn't take that route."

Student Dominique Benoit and her daughter Azeriyah, said without child care at school, she probably would have dropped out. (Kaj Hasselris)

Clark often hears he's the exception to the norm when it comes to involved dads, which is surprising to him.

"Yeah, I get that a lot, a lot of people say there's a low percentage which honestly shocks me. I can't picture that because I had no doubts I wanted to be invested in this," he explained.

If people are surprised when Clark says he wants to be an involved father, they may be floored when they hear how old he was when he started thinking about having a family.

"At 15 I wanted to have a family, and I wanted to be a stay-at-home dad. At 17 I became a father, but I didn't end up being a stay-at-home dad," he said.

Clark's family is a close knit one. His mom stayed home while his dad worked, but Clark said he always found time to talk. Clark knew he wanted to be present for his child's early years.

"I'm proud to be a father, I have no problems with it at all. Whenever someone found out I was a teen father I didn't have a problem because I'm proud of Neil, more than anything I've probably done," he added. 

Ify with Bea Paz and Daniel Clark. (Kaj Hasselris)

Both Clark and Paz surprise people when they learn they're teen parents, but they take it in stride. The two recently moved into their own apartment, and they're both graduating in June.

Listen above for more from the Baby Lab at Tec Voc, including fellow student Dominique Benoit, and some cute baby laughs.