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Meet the Kids

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Teen Lingo

Mum Mary is a special needs teacher with a degree in adolescent psychology. Dad John runs a construction company and has been a Catholic youth group leader for the past fifteen years.

The Colemans live on a small farm just outside the beautiful village of Whitechurch in County Cork. They have five children aged 12 to 19.

Mary’s style of parenting is straightforward. “You have to be strict in order to love your children properly.”

As practicing Catholics, their parenting is based on morality and tradition. “Many of the older values are very important in our parenting skills,” John says.

“Many of them are based on religious beliefs, moral balance and moral strictness.”

Marry adds,”Religion is a very clear cut, simple method in keeping yourself on the straight and narrow.”

And it’s the basis of their family motto “The Coleman’s don’t criticize, condemn or complain.” With a farm and dozens of pets to take care of, Emily and Harry will have their work cut out for them. “I think it’s very important that they learn from a young age that they don’t get anything from nothing,” John says.

“All our children help to run the household. They each have jobs that they do.

The two youngest girls have been doing the family’s weekly grocery shopping unsupervised since they eleven, and pay with their dad’s bank card.

“We always shop for bargains, we stick to a budget and we know we’re not allowed to buy sweets so we don’t,” says 13 year old Bebhinn.

Smoking, drinking and drugs are banned as are pre-marital sex and swearing.

Nineteen-year-old Evelyn Coleman explains “When I was younger I had some friends over and I think I was trying to impress them so I said “Damn it”. As a punishment Mum and Dad made me eat dinner outside with the dogs.”

Mary and John also keep tabs on what their kids are doing on the computer.

“We have put the computer with the screen facing out towards the hall so that it’s very easy to see precisely what they are downloading,” John says.

The Coleman’s are looking forward to enriching the lives of our two Aussie teens. “Maybe in hindsight they will reflect that perhaps family life can be fun,” Mary says. “Maybe they will appreciate their parents more.”

HOUSE RULES

No alcohol

No smoking

No sweets

Restricted mobile phone use

No bad language, criticising, condemning or complaining

Church every Sunday

Weekly chores - 1 night each to clean kitchen, cut grass, make fire, wash clothes and clean out guinea pig cage

No TV before homework

Call and get permission before going out

No piercings

Strict dress code - no short skirts, singlet tops or revealing clothing