A family of seven living in a TENT, 'attachment parenting' and smacking as a 'correction': Meet Australia's most controversial parents - who all insist theirs is the perfect way to raise kids
- Controversial new experiment compares the parenting styles of ten families
- The reality TV show Parental Guidance debuted on Monday night
- Fiery debate was sparked over 'strict' parents Andrew and Miriam's style
- Tent-living and home-schooling parents Liadhan and Richard raised eyebrows
Letting kids learn to read at their own pace and whether it's ever acceptable to smack children have sparked heated debate as ten Australian families participate in an experiment to compare their parenting styles.
Parental Guidance, hosted by mother-of-two Allison Langdon and parenting expert Dr Justin Coulson - a father-of-six, debuted this week with the opinionated parents competing in challenges and often butting heads.
Andrew, 39, and Miriam, 41, were among the first group of five families introduced on Monday who raise their children Luke aged 12, Grace aged 10, and Tim aged 5 with strict rules and boundaries.
The next experiment: Parental Guidance sees Allison Langdon (right, with co-host Dr Justin Coulson) moderate as parents confront each other over their different parenting styles
The shame game: Drama is high as parents then confront each other on why their parenting technique is superior (pictured: 'natural' parents Liadhan and Richard)
The first challenge - which involved the children being given a map and told to direct their parents through the Adelaide CBD - went smoothly with a confident Luke informing Christian minister Andrew that 'he's got this'.
But a second challenge in which the kids and parents swapped roles for an 'opposite day' quickly showed some cracks appearing in the NSW parent's tightly regimented style.
The children were given carte blanche to green light activities for their parents with Luke and Grace very quickly reverting to a disciplinary approach that included threatening punishments and brandishing a wooden spoon.
The couple admitted to occasionally using smacking as a 'correction' tool to teach their children discipline.
High drama: The sets of parents participate in challenges with the results aired in front of all the other parents who then critique their parenting style
'Strict' parent Andrew is slapped by his oldest son during a challenge in which they swapped roles for the day (pictured)
'All right, guys, just to make sure you understand there are some forms of discipline. All right?' Luke says, spoon in hand before gleefully ordering his dad to go to his room.
Grace also takes the spoon to her mother in a semi-serious fashion, leaving Miriam to tell her: 'Please stop smacking me. I don't like it.'
While the exchanges were playful, the other sets of parents, brought in to sit in a Survivor-like tribal council of judgement, raised concerns about how the children were being taught to deal with problems and forcing Andrew and Miriam to defend themselves.
'With corporal punishment. We see a smack as one tool in a parenting toolbox of and it's by no means the first,' Andrew explains.
'Just be careful what you're internalising there,' one of the group pipes up.
Fellow parent Donna, 40, who with husband Yann is a proponent on the French style of parenting which involves treating children as an equal, went one step further.
'French-style' parent Donna (pictured) has an intense reaction to coporal punishment towards children
'We would never smack our child. We feel very strongly about this. It's a form of abuse.'
'My parents smacked me and I don't harbour any resentment towards them,' Andrew said.
'Stockholm syndrome,' Donna replied.
Andrew does eventually admit - in perhaps the show's most emotional moment - the exercise caused him revaluate some of his principles.
'After that challenge, yeah, we were a bit confronted by, you know, is that really how they see us?' he reveals.
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The group is unanimous in rejecting corporal punishment but in a revealing moment Langdon then asks the group how many have smacked their children.
Half the hands in the room go up.
The other issues which seemed to divide the parents was unconventional couple Liadhan, 45, and Richard, 67, from South Australia who live in a tent with their five children.
'The kids can't bounce off the walls if we take the walls away,' Laidhan jokes.
Liadhan and Richard are home-schooling their children (pictured together) from their tent and are letting them learn to read 'when they're ready'
Alternative: One couple is particularly singled out for criticism after revealing they raise their children in a tent
They have opted to home-school their kids and revealed their three youngest Esther aged 9, Eva aged 7 and Danny aged 5 have not been taught how to read.
'The eldest two (Mariam, 12, and Hannah, 11) are proficient readers,' Richard explains.
'The younger three, they can recognise words.
'Some people might panic and say, 'why aren't they reading?' They will read when they're ready.'
'By accident?' Yann fires back.
'Now that it's the opportunity to learn as much as possible when their brain is a sponge.'
Same-sex couple Brett and Tony and their kids (pictured together) who are two sets of twins born on the exact same day from two surrogate mothers from India
The last two families are Lara, 42, and Andrew, 39, who follow the attachment style of parenting with their children Raphael, 7, and Chaya, 5.
This involves raising their children using a 'circle of security'. They play with their kids constantly and indulge their creativity wherever possible - loving to perform with them.
The final family is Brett, 50, and Tony, 49, a same sex couple who have two sets of twins born on the exact same day through two surrogate mothers from India.
'Only one birthday party a year,' Brett, primary school teacher, jokes.
In a particularly emotional moment Tony, a social worker, breaks down in tears as he reveals their first surrogate mother had a miscarriage.
The are proponents of a routine style of parenting, relying on a planned structure to cut through the whirlwind chaos of raising four boys.
'They've had yoghurt and fruit every night for dessert for the past eight years,' Tony said.
'These guys, they're doing an amazing job and they don't even know it,' one of the fellow parents states.
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