It’s episode two of Parental Guidance Australia season two and host Ally Langdon and Dr Justin Coulson welcome back Honest, Outback, Gentle, and Lighthouse parents to the spotlight as the other parents give their feedback.
“Welcome to the Game of Thrones of parenting,” Ally says.
Challenge 1 — Playground Bullying
The parents now have a new “triggering” challenge on their hands. Bullying in the playground. This time, they need to give their children the confidence to stand up against it.
According to Dr Justin, seven out of 10 kids will face bullying, with 85% of incidents watched by bystanders during their schooling. And, in this exercise, the kids were accompanied by a Nanny to the park, where two child actors began taunting them and the aim was to see if the kids have been taught to intervene.
Levi, eight, whose parents promote Gentle parenting “nailed it”, while Billy, 10, Honest Kat’s daughter, stood up to the bully, without engaging. Then, it was time for Pepper, 10, from the Lighthouse family who told the girls not to fight.
“Empower your kids to look at the other person and say that’s ‘not OK’,” Dr Justin Said.
Finally, it was Wyatt, 9, who had to face the bullies, with Outback mum Tency saying that a “good smack in the face will pull them up pretty quick”.
Wyatt didn’t engage with the bullies either. You go, Wyatt!
Tency then defended her comments, saying that it was a “last resort” to fight physically with David supporting her.
Parenting style spotlight — Gentle Parents
Next, Dr Justin and Ally unpack the Gentle Parenting style, discovering its world of validating emotions and encouraging children to express themselves.
“Gentle parenting is based on compassion and kindness, with no yelling and no punishment. Children are empowered and treated with total patience. The aim is to raise kids who are empathic and calm and who have self-control,” Dr Justin said.
Marcus, 34, and Larissa, 33, try to practice “a lot of patience” when parenting Levi, eight, Seanna, six, Amos, four and Caleb, two.
In particular, Marcus grew up in a household where the kids had no say in anything and Larissa said that the kids get “freedom but they have love no matter what”.
When it was time for the Focus Group to give their feedback, Stage Parent Sarah asked whether the parents show emotions in front of the kids, concerned they don’t show their kids that; however, Larissa said they do.
Unstructured parent Melody then questioned whether it would be hard for the kids to “function” outside the home when they’re “so natured”, and Larissa said they wouldn’t behave like that.
“I know why. It’s because the people looking after your kids outside the home are more authoritative than you, so they know their place,” Sarah said.
Challenge 2 — Lost in a crowd
The Focus Parents then take to a busy shopping centre for a seemingly innocent retail therapy
expedition, which rapidly becomes a rescue mission when they are separated from their children. The aim was to see if they had had an important conversation with their children about what to do if they are
lost.
Honest parent Kat took Billy and son Jesse on a shopping trip where Billy was held away from Kat by a producer. While Jesse began to panic, Kat remained calm.
Spiritual parent Deepak was impressed by how Kat reacted, handling both situations at once.
Then it was the Lighthouse family’s turn. Sammy and Jason took all four kids to the centre; while Jude, six, went “missing”. Sammy asked 10-year-old Pepper to look after two-year-old Jude, while they found him.
Then Tency and David took their sons Wyatt, Clancy and Vance shopping, while Vance disappeared. The parents went straight to the desk for help and Vance knew that he should also ask security if he couldn’t find them.
The Focus Parents were also impressed by how the Lighthouse family remained “calm” and “work as a team”.
Finally, it was time for the Gentle Parents and this time Seanna, six, was the one to be misplaced. The parents remained calm and the family went looking for her. Seanna spoke to an older woman, which is what Larissa and Marcus had told her to do previously.
Larissa and Marcus also revealed that they had lost their first daughter, Ariella, unexpectedly, just before she was born. They admitted it had “impacted” the way they now parent.
Dr Justin said that parents should write their phone numbers on their kid’s arms.
Parenting style spotlight — Outback Parents
The Outback Parents then provided a glimpse into their lives away from the bustling cities. While they
cherish the freedom that their lifestyle offers their children, they also emphasised the importance
of setting strict expectations and administering tough consequences.
We saw Wyatt, nine, drive a truck while also learning to shoot a gun, something they use for survival on a farm.
Unstructured parent Melody called the gun use “confronting”, but David defended the practice.
However, it was a heated debate about “smacking”, which caused chaos within the Parent Lounge, with differing opinions on the acceptability of physical punishment in certain situations.
“One that you can hear and feel,” David said of how he smacks his kids. “It’s only a smack.”
Dr Justin said that you need to “physically remove” a child from a situation, rather than hit them.
Challenge 3 — Resilience under pressure
Finally, the children faced one of the most common fears of all kids — heights. The challenge
prompted the Focus Parents to decide whether to push their children to overcome their fears or to
allow their kids the autonomy to make their own choices.
“Convince your child to complete the ultimate leap of face,” a text message read.
Larissa and Marcus try to get Levi to jump; however, he says he doesn’t want to do it. Larissa then tells him that he is going to be put in a harness and that he “will fly”…and he did it!
Then the Outback parents tried to convince Clancy to jump. Using the same technique as the Gentle parents, Clancy says he’ll give them $20 to do it! They chose to apply a little bit more pressure, telling him he had to do it, but he got really upset.
Tency and David said they pushed a little too hard and were upset watching it back.
The Focus Parents were praised for their parenting style.
Next up was the Lighthouse family with six-year-old Jude saying he will be “smart, brave, kind and strong” and Pepper whispering to him that “fear is temporary”.
Sammy and Jason’s technique worked and Jude managed to jump!
Lastly, Honest Kat’s Jesse was set to jump from the platform.
“I feel like I’m going to die,” he said; before agreeing to do it.
With a lot of encouragement from down below and a few false starts, Jesse jumped!
Kat’s Honest approach worked out yet again and everyone was pleased with how the Lighthouse parents supported Jude.
The Verdict
As the episode concludes, the moment of truth arrived with only one parenting style chosen to
proceed to the final stage.
Kat, our Honest parent was named and it was tears all round!
Parental Guidance Australia 2023 continues on Monday, June 12 on 9 and 9Now.
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