Smith’s parenting style

Will Smith was raised by a father who expected him to be seen and not heard, said Grant Rollings in The Sun (U.K.). “I was brought up with, ‘You don’t talk to your parents about what your opinion is, you don’t even have an opinion,’” says the actor. He and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, are raising their children—Jaden, 14, and Willow, 12—in a very different manner. “We generally don’t believe in punishment. From the time Jaden was 5 or 6 we would sit him down, and all he has to do is explain why what he did was the right thing for his life. It’s a much more difficult question to ask—‘Why was that right?’—than to show them why it was wrong. So if he can explain why kicking his sister was the right thing to do, we can see to it that he understands it wasn’t so smart.” Some commentators have condemned the Smiths’ liberal parenting style, including their recent decision to let Willow shave her head bald. “Well, the rule in our house is you can do anything you want and we don’t pull the parent card until danger is involved [or if] it will have long-term repercussions. But she didn’t cut my hair, she cut her own hair. It grows back.”

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