World's Strictest Parents

I found myself binging this on YouTube last weekend. I'm not a fan of reality shows, especially ones where the same thing happens every single episode, but World's Strictest Parents is addictive for some reason. Judging from the premise, it sounds annoying. Two obnoxious and disrespectful teenagers, a boy and girl, go live with a couple who has children for a week, because their parents can't control them and don't know what else to do. They're either American, Australian, or British. Here the teens are American (also, don't know what the other reviewer was talking about, but a majority of the teens were not from LA. I remember only one of them being from there. The rest were from various states). The so-called "strict" parents really aren't as intimidating as they're made out to be. I was also a teenager during the time this show was on MTV. We had cable for a couple of years, and I remember watching this and thinking the parents were strict, but looking at it now as an adult, I realize their expectations are sensible. Do your chores when you're told, come home by a certain time when out with friends, homework comes before playing video games or watching TV, no swearing, drinking, or drug use. That sounds simple enough, but it's hard for teens who have gotten accustomed to doing whatever they want whenever they want, and not experiencing any consequences. Some of them dropped out of school, so they sleep until the afternoon every day. They curse at their parents whenever they're asked to help out around the house, and care more about partying than looking for a job, applying to colleges, or just mapping out some kind of future. They have no structure or guidance.

The teens stay with families in Sweden, Argentina, Ireland, Puerto Rico, Africa, India, New Zealand, Texas, Ohio. It's interesting to see how people live around the world, and I feel like that's where the intriguing factor comes from. Many of them live on farms. And to be honest, it's actually quite funny how dumb these kids are. Talking back equals doing chores, so the more they got smart with the strict parents, the more chores they had to do. Farm work is strenuous, so you'd think after a certain point they would catch on and shut up, but all they do is extend the amount of time they're outside doing physical work. There is predictability to it, because of course they cuss after the strict parents told them foul language wasn't allowed in their house. The rules are typed out for them, and they sign the paper, but seconds later they start wreaking havoc. It's astonishing how fearless they are with disobeying the strict parents, including the ones who are military vets. They have something sarcastic to say to every adult they encounter. There was an episode where an Aussie teen got smart with the person who was in charge of a boot camp.

My only complaint is that I wish they had covered more of the teens' family life. It seemed like there was a lot happening behind closed doors that wasn't documented. Most of the teens were being raised by a single mom, and didn't have a relationship with their father. They also lived in neighborhoods that had considerable poverty. There was only a few who didn't necessarily have a problem, other than being spoiled. They were usually taken to a local nonprofit, to get out of their selfish bubble by volunteering. For the teens who took their comfortable life for granted in particular, the strict parents felt like it was important for them to meet people who were less fortunate. In some of the episodes, they participated in a group counseling type of thing with teenagers who came from abusive households. In one episode, the girl told the story of how she was screaming at her dad and pushed him down the stairs, so the kids asked her why are you so angry and violent, were you ever abused, neglected, abandoned, and she answered no each time. That's what made her realize she didn't appreciate how nice her parents treated her. But I do think some of the kids were unbalanced. The one strict dad worked at a health and fitness club. He told the boy to clean the wall of the racquetball court as punishment for defiance over putting on a belt, because his jeans were sagging, and then refusing to do a chore that was a consequence in connection with the belt issue. He started yelling and cursing, not caring that he was in a public place. Pushed the strict dad out of the way. Later on when him and his wife were talking to him about his behavior, it looked like he was going in and out of consciousness. Personally, I would've sent him packing his bags. That is why I do feel like this show is kind of nonsensical. Because I'm not raising someone else's aggressive, foul-mouthed, narcissistic, homicidal-acting teenager. It's their parent's fault they got that way, so they should be the ones to do something about it, not me. If there happens to be other issues, it's their parent's responsibility to get them help. I'm also curious to know where the teens are now. Did they ever follow through with their promises? It's easy to say you're going to pitch in with chores around the house, quit smoking, be diligent about staying on a routine, etc., but making the effort to do any of that consistently is the real challenge. Unless these kids started seeing a therapist, they might've fell back into their old ways.

Unlike the majority of reality programming, it's enlightening. It makes you think about the value of family, respect, kindness, and understanding that all of our actions are choices. It's a shame they haven't brought this back, not just for teenagers, but young adults too. A lot of people in their 20s and 30s are emotionally immature, and could really benefit from watching this show. I feel like I'm a good person, most of the time (I really do try), and I watch it for the life lessons that I was taught as a teen. It never hurts to be reminded, because we all slip up and say or do something that we shouldn't have. If Extreme Home Makeover made a return, I don't see why this can't, but I'm sure it never will. TV execs are trying to dumb us down. I'm glad there's episodes on YouTube. If you've never seen this, I would highly recommend it, even more so if you have kids.

It should go without saying that the title of this risky but enlightening reality show is a huge overstatement when you actually watch the show. I learned from Wikipedia that this show, like many other successful reality TV programs in the U.S., originated in the United Kingdom not too long ago. I've only seen the episodes aired on MTV (also shown on MTV's sister station, CMT). Judging from what episodes I've seen, I wonder how MTV as a whole defines the word "strict", and what kind of parenting would be considered reasonable according to their standards.

Truth be told, it's a great premise for a show, and there has not been one episode I've seen that has made me want to stop watching. In the show, there are two teenagers (usually no older than 18) who are deemed unruly by the producers, and therefore by the audience. These teens (different ones every week) are not unruly to the point of juvenile delinquency where they need to be sent to an institution, but they are almost always from a city (mostly Los Angeles, apparently the jaded teenager capital of the world, which it just may be), and come across as uncontrollable. They display the bad kind of independence consisting of drinking to excess frequently, smoking, or both, and sassiness to match. In other words, they have attitudes that may welcome them into Paris Hilton's circle of friends easily, but not into the real world.

The show doesn't usually bother to explain how they got this way, or place much blame on their parents for that matter. Still, they get sent to another set of parents, usually in a rural area, who are strict apparently because they establish an acceptable code of conduct for their children and guests, assign chores, and actually (gasp!) punish them for disobeying the rules or talking back. The teenagers given this special assignment from the show stay with this family for just seven days.

Now, I don't know if the teens themselves actually audition for this show, or if their parents sign them up for it. I also don't know at what point these teens know what they're in for. Regardless, it is nice to see these teens clean up their attitude in the course of the week. Most of the teens have messy encounters with the parents within the first day. It seems as though TV in general thrives on Reality TV meltdowns, but these fights are the same kind you feel when you're a guest at a regular person's house and a loud argument between a parent and a child ensues. You feel a different kind of thick tension that you don't feel when Flavor Flav's skanky girlfriends get into cat fights. It's incredibly uncomfortable.

However, from those tense moments come some poignant moments resulting from reconciliation, depending on whether or not the teen leaves the show (which has happened only once according to my count). When the teen makes a connection with the temporarily adoptive parent, the resolution seems far less scripted than other reality shows. It's unlikely that a spoiled teen would change his or her ways in just one week. After all, it takes Army recruits six weeks to change their attitudes in basic training.

With that said, I found myself, upon watching this show for the first time, thinking I was going to watch the show and say, "Wow, these parents are really strict", but instead saying, "Wow, what's wrong with these teenagers?". The parents on this show, for the most part, do what every parent should be doing: showing their kids enough discipline so that they enter the real world without the notion that success will be handed to them. It's a lesson every kid should learn, and actually enforcing such rules does not make a parent a strict parent; it makes them a good parent. Strict is not necessarily a good thing, either. Their are strict parents who are bad parents, too. Similarly, not every spoiled, cynical child comes from Los Angeles either. It's sort of sad that MTV (or CMT) doesn't seem to grasp that fact judging from this TV show. However, if a show that is simultaneously entertaining and educational can hammer home to a younger audience what good parenting and acceptable social behavior should be, then this show has served a purpose extending beyond ad revenue.