Jaden Smith, the 14-year-old son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, is not seeking emancipation from his superstar parents for his birthday.
It was previously reported that the teenager wanted to live in his own home , away from his parents, when he turns 15 on July 8. According to The Sun , Will Smith said Jaden, as well as 12-year-old daughter Willow, should be able to make their own decisions.
Smith said, “We generally don’t believe in punishment. From the time Jaden was five or six we would sit him down, and all he has to do is be able to explain why what he did was the right thing for his life.”
It’s a philosophy that Smith firmly believes in, as this isn’t the first time he’s mentioned that he and his wife don’t like punishing their children.
“The way that we deal with our kids is, they are responsible for their lives. Our concept is, as young as possible, give them as much control over their lives as possible and the concept of punishment, our experience has been — it has a little too much of a negative quality,” Smith told Metro last month. “So when they do things — and you know, Jaden, he’s done things — you can do anything you want as long as you can explain to me why that was the right thing to do for your life.”
However, letting Jaden move out on his own apparently doesn’t fall into that category, at least not for the time being. He is still a minor and will remain under his parents’ guardianship for now , but in three years, he’ll be able to legally move out on his own. In the meantime, he’ll be co-starring with his father in the upcoming sci-fi film After Earth .
What do you think of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s “no punishment” philosophy, and letting their kids do whatever they want?
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