Lazy teenagers go it alone as parents strike

THE dishes, rubbish and dirty laundry would pile up for days when Cat and Harlan Barnard’s teenage children refused to do their chores.

So the Barnards went on strike, moving out of their house and into a domed tent set up in their front driveway. The parents refuse to cook, clean or drive for their children - Benjamin, 17, and Kit, 12 - until they shape up.

“We’ve tried reverse psychology, upside down psychology, spiral psychology and nothing has motivated them for any length of time,” said Ms Barnard, 45, as she sat in a lawn chair at an umbrella-covered table.