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AUSTRALIA<br />
THE IRONSIDE<br />
FAMILY<br />
World’s Strictest<br />
Parents’ first Australian<br />
family, the Ironsides,<br />
will be serving up a dose<br />
of discipline - outback<br />
style.<br />
Mark Ironside is a grazier and pastor of<br />
his local church. Together with wife Grace<br />
they run a remote cattle station west of<br />
Charleville, in outback Queensland.<br />
Tearaway teens Nathan and Adriana will<br />
spend a week on the 40,000 acre property.<br />
The isolation will be tough for the teens, who<br />
are used to all the mod-cons of city living.<br />
“Many kids are shocked when they find out<br />
there’s no phone reception,” says Grace.<br />
“When most teenagers come here they think<br />
they’ve come to the end of the earth. The<br />
back fence is 30 kilometres away so there’s<br />
nowhere to run away to.”<br />
The Ironsides limit their kids’ access to the<br />
internet, movies and music. And they only<br />
receive Christian satellite TV channels.<br />
The couple are no strangers to troubled<br />
teens. They’ve been foster carers to so<br />
many kids over the years they’ve lost count.<br />
“We provide a stable, disciplined, loving<br />
environment. We say what we mean and<br />
mean what we say. But ultimately it’s up to<br />
the children to decide if they want to change.”<br />
The Ironsides are a traditional family who<br />
believe hard work and discipline is the key<br />
to good parenting.<br />
“We believe in corporal punishment, the<br />
stick or the wooden spoon,” says Mark.<br />
“And we have a rule here – if you don’t work,<br />
you don’t eat.”<br />
Their children – Amy, 23, Elizabeth, 19, and<br />
Matthew, 13 – describe their upbringing as<br />
“very, very strict.”<br />
Failure to do homework is punished<br />
immediately with chores such as fencing,<br />
cleaning out the cattle dog pens and mowing<br />
the lawn.<br />
But the kids understand it’s for their own<br />
good. “They have rules that protect you,”<br />
says Elizabeth.<br />
There’s also a strict no drinking, smoking or<br />
swearing policy in the Ironside household.<br />
“We are firm parents,” Grace says. “We have<br />
certain moral standards in our house and<br />
there are consequences if rules are broken.”<br />
HOUSE RULES!!!<br />
• No alcohol<br />
• No smoking<br />
• No drugs<br />
• No swearing<br />
• No regular TV, only Christian<br />
Television<br />
• If you don’t work, you don’t eat<br />
• Children must eat what’s in<br />
front of them<br />
• Daily chores – feed the<br />
dogs, clean out the kennels,<br />
make the bed, keep room tidy<br />
• Privileges are withdrawn if<br />
rules are disobeyed<br />
• Church every Sunday<br />
“The isolation is a shock factor,” adds Mark.<br />
WORLD’S STRICTEST PARENTS
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