The World's Strictest Parents

I thought the Bible-believing Christians from Alabama did a great job of having 2 unruly British teenagers stay with them for a week for The World's Strictest Parents (which was on BBC 1 tonight).

The teenage boy described himself as gay and the family seemed to cope with that!

Both kids left having found some things hard, and there was plenty of cursing along the way, but in the end they were sorry to leave the family and very thankful to them for the experience. They went home wanting so say "thank you" to their parents and show them more respect, help out at home etc. having discovered that they'd been rather selfish and self-absorbed prior to this programme was made. The boy said he wanted to get back to the happy smiley person he'd been before he became negative with his parents etc.

The family aimed to show unconditional love in an atmosphere of fun and respect with clear boundaries. The Christian guy lost his cool a bit at one point, but he and the girl seemed to apologise and make up the next day. It was very clear the family were on the kids' side and wanted the best for them.

The girl spoke of the man's sincerity and how she found she could talk to him and so on.

The family's own 3 kids seemed happy and well adjusted and the man spoke movingly about his own relationship with his father and previous problems with alcohol dependency etc.

Very highly recommended.