Strict parents & laid-back parents

These days, there are a lot of issues about parenting. Some parents are very strict, and some are really laid-back. I can't say who is wrong and who is right. Actually, I think both of them are impotent, I just want to say the most important thing is keeping balance between them. In Asian society, punishment is the general situation. They want to teach their children what is wrong and what is right. However, sometimes it becomes a problem because they punish too much. On the other hand, parents who are laid-back say they are giving their children freedom because it's children's life and they don't want to let their children feel bad. It sounds good, but when children do something wrong, parents still care about their feelings, so don't give punishment and try to say something nicely. Sometimes my parents are very strict but sometimes are laid-back. When I didn't respect older people, they were very upset, but they don't care about my test scores, because they think attitude and manner are a more important part of my whole life than test scores. They just give me some advice and let me decide what I really want to learn. And I think it is really good for me. Parents love their children so they parent in their own way, I can't say their way is totally wrong. I just want to say too much is always worse than too little.