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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.

Want to CHATTR with us? Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more entertainment news.

It’s episode one of the wild ride that is Parental Guidance Australia, season two and 12 new parents with drastically different parenting styles are going head-to-head to find out Australia’s best parenting style.

Led by esteemed television personality Ally Langdon and renowned parenting expert Dr Justin Coulson, the first episode put the spotlight on four parent sets with distinct parenting styles: Honest (no holding back), Outback (tough love), Gentle (patient and kind), and Lighthouse (promote independence).

As for the others? They served as “panel parents”, lending their valuable insights and perspectives. What could possibly go wrong?

“There’s no point in sugar-coating life, because life is not going to be sugar-coated for you,” our honest single-mum, Kat, 49 said.

The First Challenge — The photoshoot

Outback Family

The first exercise of season two was the Family Photo Shoot Challenge, where each family tried to capture the perfect family portrait with the help of a pro photographer and scenic surroundings.

“We’ll need to see cooperation and patience, as well as a great family photo,” host Ally Langdon said.

First up was the Outback parents, Tency, 32, David, 39 and their kids Vance, 10, Wyatt, nine and Clancy seven.

This family don’t usually partake in professional family photos with Tency saying: “It was a bit awkward.”

When the panel spoke to the couple, Jonathan (Influencer) said it was “easy to see the boys have a lot of respect” for them as parents, especially when David urged Wyatt quietly to sit still.

David admitted that his parenting style came from a man who uses that technique with horses.

“If you need a gram, use a gram. If you need a tonne, use a tonne,” he said. “If you don’t need to use much to get something done, you don’t need to use much.”

Dr Justin then shared the psychological term: “Minimal Sufficiency Paradigm, which is precisely what that is.”

Lighthouse Family

The Lighthouse family of Sammy, 41 and Jason, 41, and Pepper, 10, Jude, six, Rory, three and Lottie, two were a tad more chaotic as their parenting style allows the kids the freedom “to run amok”.

Their photo ended with all the children in a tree, which “summed” up them as a family.

Kath, one of the American parents, liked how the photo “came about organically”.

“It was bribery, it wasn’t organic,” Sammy joked before Unstructured parent Melody said they found a way “to redirect it to be gentle and fun”.

“We give them that space to be a little bit feral and then we bring it back in.”

Gentle Family

Marcus, 34, and Larissa, 33, try to practice “a lot of patience” when parenting Levi, eight, Seanna, six, Amos, four and Caleb, two.

And as Larissa foreshadowed, the photoshoot took a lot longer than most families, given their more gentle approach. While watching back, some of the others were less than impressed with how things proceeded, in particular how Levi spoke back to his parents.

Parent Deepak, 45, told the couple that he felt uncomfortable for the photographer; however, Marcus said that they have the comfort of “four children to consider”.

Influencer Jonathan then countered, saying that in “that situation, it’s time for the kids to behave”.

Stage parent Sarah, 47, then suggested the “distraction technique”, offering a treat if they focused now.

“We don’t use bribes,” Larissa said. “Depending on how it could be used, is a bribe.”

Larissa told the panel that two of her four kids were sick; however, Outback David said regardless, they “super disrespectful”, especially when Caleb was hitting Larissa.

Marcus then told the panel that in a real life scenario, they would talk the child through the situation, i.e. “‘How do you think that made your sibling feel?” because they were trying to promote “empathy”.

Team Parent Leanne, 42, was shocked and in a producer-led interview said she saw “no respect or discipline”.

“If any of my kids struck at me, that’s not OK!” she said.

On the plus side, Deepak did say that they liked how patient Marcus and Larissa were with Dr Coulson addiing that teaching kids to behave in a “socially appropriate way” was one of the key roles for parents.

Honest Family

Finally, it was time for single mum Kat and her kids, fraternal twins Billy and Jesse, ten to have their photo taken.

Everything was going really well with the kids rolling down the hill, until Kat thought “what have I done”?

Jesse is autistic and has ADHD, and take him a lot of time to focus due to an influx of energy.

Kat used a “stop” technique, where she put up her hand, telling the kids to “think about hot you’re going to be, how itchy you’re going to be”.

Marcus and Larissa shook their heads, while Leanne nodded in agreement with Kat’s approach.

“It’s all about quick recovery,” Kat said, saying that after she uses force, she then goes back to making it fun. She then told the kids to “casually” do “the finger” and they loved it!

Melody loved that Kat gave them a reason to stop, calling it “impressive”.

Kat explained that there are definitely guidelines to her technique.

Learning more about the Parenting Styles

Lighthouse Parenting

Lighthouse Parenting is “a watchful, yet hands-off-approach to parenting.” For example, Sammy and Jason allow Pepper and Jude (10 and six) to go get the fish and chips from the shop by themselves at nighttime.

“We’re setting our kids up so that they realise we won’t always be there to fix their problems,” Sammy said.

Jude and Rory are also allowed to swim in the water at the beach by themselves, while the parents watch on from inside the house, in order to “showcase” independence.

Lighthouse Parenting — The panel response

Leanne was quick to say she felt “ill” watching the kids in the water.

“That water can change in an instant and from where you are and where the kids are, they’re gone,” she said.

While Jason said there were “lifeguards”, Sammy added that they want their kids to be aware of their own limitations.

Ally then questioned if the lifeguards were the babysitters and Team Parent Mark, 46, said it was “too hands-off), while Kat said she trusted their judgement.

Honest Parenting

Honest parenting is telling the truth sometimes bluntly.

“Honesty in my home is 100% important,” Kat said adding the “benefit is for them to be able to relate”.

“Let’s stop fluffing these children up.”

Honest Parenting — The panel response

Leanne told Kat that she too hates when school’s give out a participation award; however, Stage Parent Sarah said that joking about kids performance is concerning.

Ally asked whether it was effecting their kid’s “self-esteem” and Kat said, everything she tells them “was age appropriate”.

Influencer Jonathan loved her technique.

Challenge Two — An hour of screentime

For their next challenge, the focus parents take on one of the most confronting issues of the digital age – Online Strangers.

Joined by AFP Detective Superintendent Jayne Crossling from the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation, the parents found themselves engaged in a difficult conversation that sheds light on the crucial importance of equipping children with the skills to safely navigate the digital world.

“This crime type is severely underreported,” Det SI Jayne said, telling the parent’s that groomers can use images of their children to exploit them.

The parents were challenged to allow their kids an hour of screentime with an online-game, seeing what they did when a stranger (an actor under AFP guidance) approached them.

Outback Parenting

Ten-year-old Vance was first up playing as “Lemonade” and the actor “Happy Dance”. Immediately, Vance gives away that he’s on TV and doing a challenge.

The actor tries to convince him to give his real name, but he uses “Elizabeth” instead, before the actor asks his age. Vance reveals he’s 10. While the actor tries to get him to talk, he’s too focused on the game.

The actor then asks if they can meet and Vance says he can’t, or he’ll “get into trouble”.

Det Jayne said it was a great technique used by Vance, but she did have concern with him seeing it as a completion, which “really motivated him and in time, could be used against him”.

Lighthouse Parenting

Pepper, also 10, was then given time and immediately gave her name out. The actor then asks if she wants to go to his house in-game and Pepper says “of course”.

Det Jayne says that offenders will do this to move kids away from other users so they can “chat in private”.

The actor then says what state he is in, before Pepper immediately tells him what suburb she lives in, before she gives away that she knows the local shopping centre.

When asked to meet up, Pepper says “definitely”, before adding him as a friend.

Sammy and Jason were visibly upset, as were the other parents.

“Not talking about it is actually dangerous,” Ally said before Sammy said it “breaks my heart”.

Jason revealed that Pepper wasn’t old enough to use technology yet, before it was noted that Pepper had used the game at her friend’s house before, something Det Jayne was worried about.

Gentle Parenting

Levi and Seanna (eight and six) then took on the challenge.

Larissa said they do not encourage technology in their house and while Levi and Seanna are playing the game, they ignore the chat from the actor.

“We try teach our kids to listen to how they’re feeling,” Larissa told the group. “If an adult is asking for help, [they’re] maybe not a safe person.”

However, Det Jayne said the kids were being “inadvertently safe” because they weren’t playing the game correctly.

“It can be challenging to rely on an individual’s intuition,” she told them.

Honest Parenting

Finally, it was time for Kat’s daughter Billy, ten, to go online.

Kat reveals she has strong, strict rules about what they can say when using technology and straight away, Billy tells the actor she is a girl.

The actor then tells her that they’re in the same state and finds a kid’s restaurant she might like.

“No!” Billy exclaims, saying she lives near there while also giving away her street address. Kat is visibly upset, especially when Billy lies to her.

“None of you can beat me up anymore than I’m beating myself up right now,” Kat tells the panel.

Ally, also chocked up, says: “No one is beating you up. Everyone feels for you right now,” before comforting her.

“Honest parent, my kid lies,” she says. “Reality is she lied because she knew she’d done the wrong thing.”

Kat walks out alongside Ally and it was truly heartbreaking to watch.

Dr Justin then says that kids lie so that their screens won’t be taken off them before Det Jayne says, without judgement, that immediately, Billy would have felt scared due to the fact Kat came into the conversation concerned even though it was the nature of the game.

The Final Task — Baking a Cake

The climax of the episode presents the families with their final challenge: baking a cake together.

This seemingly simple task serves as a powerful reminder of the significance of sibling relationships in a child’s life.

While Billy and Jesse bake a cake, there’s no teamwork happening, and even though there was no direction, “they weren’t at each other.”

Unforunately, their cake was a disaster and Kat told them so!

Meanwhile, in the Outback…

Vance and Wyatt were very good at working together with seven-year-old Clancy being the boss and their cake turned out great!

Seanna was in charge of the Gentle household; however, her being the boss turned into tears. Levi struggled and went to his room, while the other children kept baking; coming back after he had calmed down.

Kat and her Honest parenting was praised for her “relaxed approach” while the Gentle Parents were commended for their “patience”.

Sammy and Jason’s Jude was put in charge, much to the horror of Pepper, who although disgruntled, went along with it anyway.

Even two-year-old Lottie got in on the action, breaking a few eggs in the process while Pepper got upset with Jason consoling her, before she went to her room.

Jude then hugged Pepper asking for her help! So sweet. She then returned to the kitchen.

Ally questioned whether their daughter felt more responsibility because her mum and dad were Lighthouse parents.

The voting

The panel were then tasked with choosing their favourite parenting style from the day.

Tency and David, the Outback parents procured the most votes for best Parental Guidance.

For more information, visit the Australian Centre to Counter Child Expoliation.

Parental Guidance continues on Tuesday June 6 at 7.30pm.

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