Parental Guidance: ‘Tiger parents’ tough act shocks TV viewers

The “tiger parents” appearing on a parenting TV show left viewers furious over their decision to make their child go on a scary ride.

Australian TV viewers have shared their shock at a controversial scene of a popular new parenting show – labelling it “mean” and “too much”. During Wednesday’s episode of Channel 9’s Parental Guidance, “Tiger parents” Kevin and Debbie took their kids to an amusement park – where they forced daughter, Mimi, to go on a scary amusement park ride.

Despite giving her the choice to choose which ride the family would go on — and opting for a more peaceful one — Debbie urged her daughter to choose a more intense ride.

Mimi proceeded to hysterically cry before the ride, during and after, shocking the other parents and social media users watching at home.

Mimi cried throughout the course of the ride. Picture: Channel 9

“Attachment” mum Lara was shocked. Picture: Channel 9

As was “free range” mum Penny. Picture: Channel 9

The other couples called out Kevin and Debbie for taking away Mimi’s “freedom to choose”.

“Free range” dad Daniel said he was astounded by the “unawareness” the couple showed of Mimi’s fear.

“[You should] just understand that she didn’t want to do it and probably, at that point, give her the option,” he told Kevin and Debbie.

Debbie said that because her daughter “cries so often, so easily”, she thought “it was just like a usual cry”.

“So we honestly thought that she would be like, ‘Oh, I did it!’” she added. “This is something we won’t try again.”

On Twitter, viewers labelled it “mean” and “too much”.

Aww come on, that is just mean to force the poor girl to do a ride she clearly didn’t want to do #ParentalGuidance

— Catherine Redman (@AngelC86) November 10, 2021

#parentalguidance I think the Tiger parents are treating the challenges more like the competition, an I see they look at the cameras more..I hope all parents take alittle something away from each other's. Love the concept (show)..

— Dave (@Dave54994252) November 10, 2021

Still annoyed the strict parents got through. Strict parenting causes attachment issues and rebelling in teenage years, and your kids will just lie to your face. Same with discipline parenting #parentalguidance

— 💧Steph (@DoNotConform1) November 10, 2021

Being raised by a tiger mum I can tell you that these are not the kids dreams. It’s the parents forcing their dreams into them #ParentalGuidance

— Bfitwithb (@Bfitwithb) November 10, 2021

Despite the criticism, Debbie and Kevin and Penny and Daniel were chosen to go into next week’s “super challenges”, joining “strict” parents Simon and Miriam and “routine“ parents Brett and Tony.

Elsewhere in the show, expert co-host Dr Justin Coulson revealed a common parenting act that’s thought to teach kids forgiveness is actually a way of teaching them to lie.

On Wednesday’s episode of the series, this week’s “front row” parents were given the challenge of a family photo shoot to see “how well children will follow their parents’ instructions when it counts”.

Needless to say, for some families, it did not go well.

“The boys were not keen when we told them about the family photo shoot,” “disciplined” dad Rob said.

His wife Sioux said that their parenting style means they “negotiate, but at the end of the day, I guess we have the final say”.

Rob and Sioux’s sons had a minor altercation during their family photo shoot. Picture: Channel 9

She then made her boys apologise to each other. Picture: Channel 9

When, during the photo shoot, one of the couple’s sons threw his thongs at the other — leading his brother to react by hitting him in the back — Sioux made the boys apologise to each other.

“We want our children to understand that every action has a reaction. In life, there is consequences for negative choices or negative behaviour,” she told the camera.

“When you make those choices, there is a consequences that’s going to follow.”

After footage of the incident was played to the room, Sioux added that “getting them to apologise is really important because it’s real life”.

“We’ve told the boys that we need to own our behaviour and take responsibility for it,” she said.

Sioux said that “getting them to apologise is really important because it’s real life”. Picture: Channel 9

“Strict” dad Andrew congratulated Sioux and Rob on “modelling” for their sons what it looks like to “work through [lack of forgiveness and bitterness] and not to harbour it up, and to work through the messiness of it”.

But French nouveau parents Yann and Donna wanted to know whether it was important to Sioux and Rob whether their boys mean it when they have to apologise.

Donna muttered to Yann that she doesn’t “agree with saying sorry if you don’t mean it”. Picture: Channel 9

“We want them to know whether it’s by accident, whether it’s on purpose or whatever it is, apologising for your behaviour is so important and maybe sometimes they don’t always mean it, but it’s important to say it,” Sioux responded.

Donna muttered to Yann that she doesn’t “agree with saying sorry if you don’t mean it”.

And Dr Coulson elaborated on that point.

“I want to say something kind of provocative. Forcing children to apologise is teaching children to lie,” he told the room.

“Parents often think they need to be coach and cheerleader and umpire, but parents who encourage their kids to figure it out for themselves, those kids are going to have more resilience, more confidence and more life skills than if their parents are the ones doing it all.”

Parental Guidance airs on Channel 9 at 7pm next Sunday, and at 7.30pm on Monday and Tuesday