"So cringe!!": Fans address their concerns with Dennis Williams' style of parenting on The Parent Test

The Parent Test season 1 aired a brand new episode on Thursday, January 19, 2023, at 9 pm ET on ABC. The one-hour episode explored different parenting styles that the chosen parents used to raise their kids.

The cast navigated between different styles of parenting and discussed what would be the best approach as they put these styles to test. Viewers witnessed a lot of emotion and drama over the course of the episode.

On this week's episode of The Parent Test, Dennis Williams, who takes the High Achievement approach with his son Elan, took the Opposite Day challenge. He had to pretend to be the kid, while his son would be like him.

However, Elan failed to take the initiative and didn't know how to complete the exercise and Dennis couldn't stop being a father. Fans felt like the father was not aiding Elan's growth. One tweeted:

The official synopsis of the show reads:

"Twelve families are put under the microscope in the ultimate parenting stress test. From hot-button topics and emotional challenges to shared learnings, the search to find today’s most effective parenting styles begins."

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Dennis takes the Opposite Day challenge with his son on The Parent Test

The episode of The Parent Test began with exploring the parenting styles of four sets of parents - the Day Family, the NG Family, the Mills Family, and the Williams Family. Parenting expert Dr. Adolph Brown and host Ali Wentworth then discussed their opinions on the challenges given to the parents and put things into perspective on deciding the best style to navigate their kids' lives.

The official synopsis of the episode, titled Bubbled Wrapped Children, reads:

"Strict, High Achievement, Free Range and Negotiation parents remain in the hot seat and brave the Opposite Day and What’s for Dinner challenges. The families also weigh in on the hot button topic of spanking."

For the first challenge on The Parent Test, the parents had to undertake Opposite Day, which meant that the kids had to act like their parents and vice versa. For Free Range parents, their kids were chaotic and didn't know how to behave as parents. For the Mills family, who had a strict parenting approach, their kids behaved just like the parents.

For Dennis Williams, the single father of his son Elan, the Opposite Day challenge was an extremely difficult exercise to do. Although he had to behave like his kid, he didn't understand how not to be a father. Throughout the challenge, Elan looked nervous and disappointed while his father tried his best to complete the exercise.

Fellow parents on The Parent Test explained that Dennis, who took the High Achievement approach to raise Elan, had full control over the situation. This led to his son having a lack of initiative and awareness. They also noted that while other parents' kids were excited about the Opposite Day challenge, Elan wasn't too keen to pretend to behave like his father.

The parent group then discussed the prospect of negotiation. They felt that the parents could talk to their kids and come to a consensus on issues. Dennis, however, noted that he was the only parent and there was not a lot of room for negotiation.

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Fans address their concerns with Dennis' way of parenting on The Parent Test

Fans took to social media to address their concerns with Dennis' way of parenting. They felt that he wasn't able to relinquish control, which interfered with his son Elan's growth.

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Season 1 of The Parent Test has been extremely well-received by the audience. Viewers have been very active on social media, expressing their opinions on the different parenting styles discussed every episode. More styles will be discussed in the upcoming weeks, giving fans more insight into the concept.

Don't forget to tune in to a brand new episode of The Parent Test on Thursday, January 19, 2023, at 9 pm ET on ABC.