With the final of the show tonight, I think it’s fair to ask what went wrong. It seemed like a promising topic for a show but viewer numbers has steadily fallen across the series and it isn’t because of any massive competition.
The main aspect I disliked was that it was turned into a competition. It could have been better if the good and bad aspects of each parent style were challenged and discussed. It was all very confusing working out why there were two groups and on what basis they were voting. Perhaps like Old People’s Home for 4 Year olds - imagine if commercial TV had got a hold of that format and there was a winner at the end.
The episodes showing whether or not the children would go with a stranger could have dissected that behaviour and picked out good and bad ways to educate children. Use the challenge format but to educate rather than just entertainment.
Also, I think they should have stressed that while the parents might have represented particular parenting styles, they may not be the best and were just one example.
I haven’t minded the series and as parents it’s actually been really good seeing the different styles - and being able to say who among our friends and family are which.
While it was a competition, it also didn’t really feel like a competition which was good. From an educational, parenting point of view I think it was good. I’d like to see it tweaked a bit and return again but if not, at least it was something different from the usual.
I feel like there were a couple of things about the strict parents that weren’t really necessary - a couple of the dwelling on the Christian side with them and why were they the only ones who got asked about the gay parents? Wasn’t necessary. It was good to see that things were all pretty good with all the parents, even when they disagreed, there was still respect among them all.
Good point. Don’t bring religion into these shows, always a touchy subject for many which will result in turnoffs immediately. Soon as I heard the word I switched off.
The Show that has Australia talking crowns the best parenting style
Australia’s newest viewing obsession, Channel 9’sParental Guidance , averaging almost one million viewers per episode across all platforms, tonight crowned the parents with the best parenting style: Penny and Daniel, the “free-rangers”.
Penny and Daniel, who were awarded with the best parenting style by the other parents participating in the program, said
“We don’t feel that our parenting style is better than others, the real win is the experience we have all shared. We have gained so much from the other parents and we just feel really grateful for that.”
Over the past three weeks, ten sets of brave parents have persevered through some of the toughest parenting challenges imaginable and an agenda of confronting but important discussions that divided the nation. One of the most heated topics was smacking and what it achieved in disciplining children, as well as having the right conversations around stranger danger, how far to push your child to be the best, and dealing with one of the biggest obstacles of all in modern-day parenting – screen time on digital devices.
Host Ally Langdon said “It’s been great to celebrate so many different parenting styles and I’m definitely a better parent from this experience, so my kids say thank you! I’m glad it has started so many important conversations. At the end of the day, we love our kids regardless of the style we choose to be parents.”
Ally’s co-host, Australian parenting expert Dr Justin Coulson, said “Parental Guidance has created valuable conversations about parenting right around the country. I’ve been inspired by so many people who have told me that watching the show has led to important insights in the way they bring up their children, and exciting changes that have made their families happier.
“It has been brave, confronting, provocative, but also touching, inspiring and wonderfully human. I’m grateful to have been a part of Parental Guidance, and hope it has entertained and helped many Aussie families.”
