‘Free range’ parents defend their ‘modern’ parenting style

A heated debate has broken out on the finale of TV series Parental Guidance, with one dad defending his misunderstood “modern” parenting style.

Tonight’s finale of Channel 9’s Parental Guidance saw a heated debate break out over the purpose of one style of “modern” parenting.

The episode saw “free range” mum and dad Penny and Daniel and “tiger” parents Kevin and Debbie head to the wilderness with their respective kids – where they spent 48 hours without electricity or technology to “test how their parenting style works when everything familiar is taken away”.

While the challenge saw the families put together their tents, go on a kilometres-long hike and cook their dinner over a fire, the most surprising takeaway for most was that Penny and Daniel hadn’t gone camping with their three kids before.

‘Free range’ parents Penny and Daniel. Picture: Channel 9

‘Tiger’ parents Kevin and Debbie. Picture: Channel 9

“Free range parents and camping – I thought that would be an ideal match. It was really revealing to know that they’d never camped before. I wasn’t expecting that,” single mum-of-six Deb observed, after footage of the experience was played to the room.

Daniel revealed that his and Penny’s eldest son had asked to go camping “every day for the last seven years”, but the family hadn’t because of his own “genuine fear”.

Deb ‘wasn’t expecting’ Penny and Daniel not to be experienced campers. Picture: Channel 9

Rob and Sioux also wondered about the divide between the couple’s lack of camping experience and parenting style. Picture: Channel 9

“Why have you said no [to camping]? Because your parenting style is, ‘We don’t say no,’” “disciplined” parent Sioux said, while Deb pointed out that Penny and Daniel’s “kids are free range, but you guys aren’t”.

“Disciplined” dad Rob then asked whether the camping challenge had exposed a “weakness” in the couple’s parenting style, because they were “missing out on that connection as a family”.

An increasingly frustrated Daniel said he felt “the room lost sight of what free range is”, while Penny said the perception that they weren’t connecting with their kids was “a bit of a shock”.

After showing footage of the family on a hike, Deb said that she “was surprised again that you guys hadn’t hiked before”.

“Obviously I just had a different picture of free range. I don’t know – how much is your parenting style deliberate, or has it just evolved from, I don’t know, just let them be, just let them be free?” she asked the couple.

“Free range is simply the parenting style. There’s so much anxiety, there’s so much, ‘No, you can’t do that,” Daniel began.

“I hear you,” Deb cut in.

“But, no. So the fact that we haven’t been bushwalking, or we haven’t been camping, doesn’t change the style. What it has done is shown us that when we put them in those situations, free range has allowed us to embrace it,” he went on.

Daniel became frustrated at the misunderstanding of their parenting style. Picture: Channel 9

The pair were ultimately named the winners. Picture: Channel 9

In a piece-to-camera, he doubled down on the way his and Penny’s style had been misunderstood.

“Free range is a modern style of parenting that allows the kids to have the time and to have the ability to think on their feet, the ability to move their boundary to where they’re comfortable,” he said.

“At no point did we say, ‘Oh, well, free range means throw your kids out on the street and let them do what they want’. But it really felt like that’s where they were going with it.”

Ultimately, despite the confusion, he and Penny came out on top and were named the parents “with the best parental guidance”.

The pair said they were “speechless”, with Penny adding that “the real winner is the experience that we’ve all had”.

“[Parenting] is a continual journey and a continual learning experience and we’re grateful that people have seen some value in our parenting and we’re appreciative of that,” she said.

“The way you parent has resonated with everyone in this room,” series co-host Ally Langdon said.

“And I think everyone’s going to go home in some way, shape or form a little more free range.”