The Unconventional Family
Will and Jada Smith have been parents for a while now. Will was originally married in 1992 to Sheree Zampino, whom he ended up divorcing just three years later. The two had a son together, Trey, and share mutual custody of him. In 1997, he married Jada, and the two had two children. The first was Jaden, back in 1998, and the second was their beautiful daughter, Willow, who was born in the year 2,000.
What makes Will and Jada smith quite unique as parents is their controversial parenting style, which they developed through their own special life experiences and circumstances. The two have been through quite a lot in their early years and decided to take a very relaxed approach to parenting that doesn’t involve many disciplines. In a 2013 interview, Will Smith explained to Metro that they “don’t do punishment” in the Smith household.
An Uncomfortable Question
The interview took place on an episode of her online chat show, Red Table Talk. Jada had just revealed that her fifteen-year-old son, Jaden, approached her with a question and a request that “devastated” her. Jada and Will Smith are obviously very loving and passionate about their family and career, but sometimes things get in the way.
Despite all the hardships, Jada views herself as a loving and understanding mother. She knows that whatever the circumstances, it is her duty and sympathize and try to understand her son’s perspective. This time, what Jaden asked her wasn’t at all what she ever wanted, she knew that the right thing to do would be to let him make his own decisions.
A Father's Message
Will’s message to his children is that they have to learn how to deal with their own lives on their own terms. This is especially true with children of extremely wealthy parents, who are often seen as privileged and lacking of character. The iconic Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star claimed that “The way that we deal with our kids is [that] 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 [that] it has a little too much of a negative quality.”
Love and Encouragement
In-addition to their lax approach to discipline, Will and Jada also highly encourage transparency and authentic communication in their household. The two loving parents opened what they refer to as a “circle of safety,” where each member of the family gets to talk in an honest way without fear of judgment or punishment.
The Smith parents did this In-order to maintain an environment where everyone can talk to each other openly, something which is quite lacking in many households and relationships today.
The Circle of Safety
The only important rule about the circle of safety is that you have to be fully honest and forthcoming. No one gets punished, no matter what they reveal, but there will be consequences against any family member who fails to disclose the truth. In 2016, Smith told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show.
“[In the circle of safety, the kids are] allowed to tell us everything that they did, and they can’t get in trouble… The rule is, if we find out after the circle of safety that there was something you didn’t say, there was hell to pay.”