10 sets of parents with very different parenting styles put their methods to the test on Parental Guidance, to determine who has Australia’s best parenting style.
WATCH BELOW: Meet the Free Range parents, Penny and Daniel, on Parental Guidance
After a short but memorable season, including some controversial moments, the parents with the best parenting style have finally been announced.
Free Range parents Penny and Daniel have proved to be the most popular among the other parents, as they’ve been voted to have the best parental guidance.
The season finale saw Penny and Daniel go up against Tiger parents Kevin and Debbie, as each family put their skills on display through a camping trip challenge.
“We feel grateful that people have seen some value in our parenting and we’re appreciative of that,” said Penny after the win.
To determine the winner, the other parents put forward a vote on whose parenting style is the most effective, whose is the most future-proof, and who they learned the most from.
Going around the room, several comments on Penny and Daniel’s parenting style were made, mainly praising the “have-a-go” nature of it.
“Penny and Daniel have a resilience in their kids, and that’s important,” Deb said during the episode.
Rachel also noted that they had the “ability to be adaptable to nearly every situation and scenario that they were put in.”
Penny and Daniel share three children together, Sebastian, nine, Julian, six, and Zahra, two, and live in Newcastle, NSW.
In a recent interview with TV WEEK, the couple shared their confidence over their parenting style, and revealed why they wanted to join the show.
“For us, the show was about experience. We’re big on living brave and teaching our kids to have a go at everything,” Daniel told the publication.
“We were confident in our kids and parenting style, and we knew we were a tight family that could do the challenges well. But most importantly it sounded fun,” he added.
While the pair are confident in the way they raise their kids, they noted that their style is by no means superior.
“We don’t want people thinking that we’re doing a better job than anyone else,” Daniel said. “We’re just a normal family trying to do our best.”
Their parenting style, Free Range, sees limited adult supervision to allow kids to be more independent, and to discover their own limits.
“Being Free Range parents is about the kids taking responsibility for their actions,” Daniel said in a piece-to-camera during the episode.
“To learn from their experiences and their mistakes and to be themselves – to be the people that they’re meant to be,” Penny added.