European parents are strict. The reasons you don't see European parents who are strict as often, is because you don't actually see European parents. Europeans emigrated to Australia in masses way way way before the Asians emigrated. So in effect, you are seeing people born and raised in Australia and calling them European parents. Trust me, if you see recent immigrants from Europe, they'll be just as strict as your Asian parents. Like my parents who emigrated when they were 32. Mine aren't so strict post year-7 ish for personal reasons which I won't disclose. However, I can tell you over in Europe, 5-6 hours of homework a night from about 5th grade is completely normal. The reason parents push is because they come from backgrounds where being top notch at school is the only ticket out of poverty. Of course, what compliments this, is the extremely harsh conditions the poor experience in some countries. But yeh, if you want to call European parents soft, judge EUROPEAN parents, not someone who was born and brought up in Australia.