Dear Will and Jada Smith, you are terrible parents

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/jaden-smi...ety-more-intelligent-203000024-us-weekly.html

Jaden Smith Hasn't Properly Learned the Rules of Using Capitalization in Sentences. Nevertheless, the After Earthstar, 15 -- the son to Will and Jada, brother to Willow, and boyfriend to Kylie Jenner -- thinks school is very uncool. Last week, the budding singer and actor took to Twitter to rant, for some reason, about school, education, and the general rules of modern society.

"People Use To Ask Me What Do You Wanna Be When You Get Older And I Would Say What A Stupid Question The Real Question Is What Am I Right Now," the Karate Kid star began. He continued: "All The Rules In This World Were Made By Someone No Smarter Than You. So Make Your Own."

"School Is The Tool To Brainwash The Youth," he added. "Education Is Rebellion. If Newborn Babies Could Speak They Would Be The Most Intelligent Beings On Planet Earth."

Finally, Smith -- a close pal of Justin Bieber -- declared: If Everybody In The World Dropped Out Of School We Would Have A Much More Intelligent Society . . . Everybody Get Off Your Phones And Go Do What You Actually Wanna Do."

"I think that, specifically in African American households, the idea coming out of slavery, there's a concept of your children being property and that was a major part that Jada and I realized with our kids," he told Haute Living magazine recently. "We respect our children the way we would respect any other person. Things like cleaning up their room. You would never tell a full-grown adult to clean their room, so we don't tell our kids to clean their rooms."

The father-and-son duo recently quelled rumors that Jaden was seeking emancipation. "He is definitely not going anywhere; he is so scared of being out on his own," the Men in Black star said. "Whip My Hair" singer Willow, 12, meanwhile, is a different story. "Willow is probably going to be emancipated before Jaden!"
FUCK.

I'm not a parent, so a lot of folk would tell me I'm unqualified to make that assumption. I'm going to have to disagree with you based on what I just quoted.
 
Meh. Sounds like typical teenage rebellion. As far as the respect/cleaning bedroom thing, the principle is sound, and there's so much left unsaid that I couldn't weigh in on the practice.

But, you know, they're already screwed up being celebrity children of celebrities. The fact that Will and Jada are still together goes a long way compared to many celebrity parents.
 
Meh. Sounds like typical teenage rebellion. As far as the respect/cleaning bedroom thing, the principle is sound, and there's so much left unsaid that I couldn't weigh in on the practice.

But, you know, they're already screwed up being celebrity children of celebrities. The fact that Will and Jada are still together goes a long way compared to many celebrity parents.
I can't hear you being reasonable over the sound of my kneejerk reactions.



Going to school the next day apparently.
 
"We respect our children the way we would respect any other person. Things like cleaning up their room. You would never tell a full-grown adult to clean their room, so we don't tell our kids to clean their rooms."
That about says it all. :facepalm:
 
"Open your eyes, kid, don't squint at me!"
"But ma, the sun hurts my eyes!"
"Don't you 'but ma" me, I'll give you a whippin' you'll feel all the way back to your birth day!"[DOUBLEPOST=1379383265,1379382721][/DOUBLEPOST]
@stienman - Since when is typical teenager rebellion of not wanting to go to school, also typical when the parents support it?
I've only read the quoted bit. If Will and/or Jada were letting him skip school, or echoing his twitter angst then I guess I'd wonder about how their kids will turn out. The quoted bit doesn't suggest that they're letting the kids off the hook about schooling though.

All that aside, my preteen hates school so this year we're homeschooling him. School is convenient, but as far as I'm concerned it's not the optimal learning environment for most children, so even if Will were to echo some of what Jaden was saying I still wouldn't care all that much. The rest of my school age children are in public and charter schools, and doing well enough. I don't think he hates it any more than my other kids, but it seemed to be the right decision for him this year for a variety of reasons. We'll see how it goes.
 

figmentPez

Staff member
"If Newborn Babies Could Speak They Would Be The Most Intelligent Beings On Planet Earth."

Isn't that the plot behind the Baby Geniuses series of movies?
 
The "untraditional educational methodologies" mentioned in the article is shorthand for Scientology's Study Tech. heh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Village_Leadership_Academy

Apparently the school had strong ties to Scientology, and was where Tom Cruise's daughter attended school, despite the Smith's assertion that it wasn't religiously affiliated. No reason given for closing on wikipedia, but they had only leased the building for 3 years, and it closed about three years after it started.

However, given that scientology, and therefore the academy, has strong beliefs about how backwards education is, and that's where Jaden went for the last several years, being suddenly put into public schools will certainly give him reason to publicly lash out about how wrong it is.
 
In the court of public opinion you don't need preponderance of evidence, nevermind beyond a reasonable doubt.

GUILTY! GUILTY AS SIN!
 
For Jaden, school probably is a waste of time. After all, he has access to mommy & daddy's money to support him in whatever he wants to do in life.

For all of the other kids who will have to go out and earn their own living, school is essential.
 
No reason given for closing on wikipedia, but they had only leased the building for 3 years, and it closed about three years after it started.
The school closed reportedly because of parental outrage after they learned that Scientology stuff was being taught there.

Will and Jada's parental stance might be attributed to the Scientology axiom that children are merely "adults in small bodies", and should be treated as adults and allowed to make their own choices and suffer the consequences of their own actions.
 
I'm curious Steinman, are you really defending Will and Jada Smith's parenting? Or are you just playing devil's advocate? That's how it appears to me. I honestly can't figure out your motivation either way.
 
It's not like he took his mom's new Porsche on a 90mph drive down the highway with a 12 year old runaway in the passenger seat coming on to him.
 
I'm curious Steinman, are you really defending Will and Jada Smith's parenting? Or are you just playing devil's advocate? That's how it appears to me. I honestly can't figure out your motivation either way.
I suppose a little from column A, a little from column B. I really don't know anything other than what was quoted above, and from that little slice of information I see things that would worry me if they were my kids, but I'm particularly reluctant to pass judgement on other parents who don't clearly fall into the abuse or neglect categories. I know many excellent parents from a variety of backgrounds and styles of parenting who nonetheless face significant challenges with their teenage children, so if we're just looking at Jaden's behavior I still don't think we can easily pass judgement on the parenting.

I suppose if someone linked to all the other information aside from what's above which is fueling observations on their parenting style then I might change my tune.

But at the moment I'm going, "Where's the smoking gun?"
 
Will Smith said:
You would never tell a full-grown adult to clean their room, so we don't tell our kids to clean their rooms.
I would tell a full-grown adult to clean his goddamn room if he had never learned to as a kid.
 
I wouldn't tell an adult to clean their room. I would expect it to never impact me. As long as the door is closed and there aren't any funny smells or sounds coming from within which prevent me from enjoying whatever activities I engage in nearby, I don't care.

However, I want my children to do better in life than the average human, and organization and cleanliness aren't just important for their own sake, they create an environment where one can expand their boundaries. Clutter encloses and makes one's environment smaller, less useful, less comfortable and comforting, and prevents one from expanding not just physically but emotionally, intellectually, and in many other ways.

Not to say that those who live cluttered lives can't attain happiness and reach their capacity for life and enjoyment, but that it's easier to do so in an environment where one isn't constantly faced with yesterday's thoughts, toys, and clothes.

The principle is more important than the action, and it's far easier to develop good habits as a child then to break bad habits and try to form good habits as an adult.
 
I think that Stienman and my version of parenting is so vastly different that a discussion on the subject would just go downhill quickly. All I will say, is that if a child does not gain both a knowledge of book smarts and street smarts growing up, they're going to be at a disadvantage. That's about all I can say on the subject neutrally.
 
Wait, so the outrage is about how a pampered private school kid has just learned that public school sucks?

That sounds reasonably normal to me and no stupider than other things I have heard 14-15 year-olds say in public.

Admittedly, the constant "blue steel" thing is a little weird, but teenagers do weird things when they're pretending to be adults.
 
Wait, so the outrage is about how a pampered private school kid has just learned that public school sucks?

That sounds reasonably normal to me and no stupider than other things I have heard 14-15 year-olds say in public.

Admittedly, the constant "blue steel" thing is a little weird, but teenagers do weird things when they're pretending to be adults.
Personally my outrage is at the parents defending his behavior instead of curbing it.
 
I think that Stienman and my version of parenting is so vastly different that a discussion on the subject would just go downhill quickly.
I wonder about the "vastly" bit, but you may be right given that parenting is a very emotional subject and it's easy to feel that there's a right and wrong way, rather than simple variations, none of which are perfect. Chances are good we'd have much in common, some with similar intentions but different methods and vice versa, and some that is different in method and intent. Of course my religious beliefs inform my parenting style, and that may be another source of disagreement. Living in largely the same culture, though, I'd expect us to agree more often than not.
 
Personally, I don't think Jaden is probably any more douchey than any other kid his age. Most teenagers are full of angst, self-righteousness, and egotism.
 
Personally my outrage is at the parents defending his behavior instead of curbing it.
I dunno, man, I think it's tough to infer much about how parents manage their kids in private from things they (the parents) say in public.[DOUBLEPOST=1379439081,1379439046][/DOUBLEPOST]
I think you guys missed the point, look at his capitalization!

Strike three Will Smith!
You forgot to capitalize "three". [/helpful]
 
My parents raised me to clean my room, handle my affairs, and get schoolwork done before playing on the computer.

Not their fault that I am the way I am now. *rueful smile*
 
I often stop and wonder which of my current habits, viewpoints, or decisions I will kick myself for in a few years.
That's wise. I think it's good to have the foresight of one's current ignorance, even if you don't know the extent of said ignorance.
My parents tried to raise me to clean my room. It basically failed. ;)
I'm neater than either of my parents. They're not messy or anything, but I am a very tidy person. No one ever had to tell me to clean my room, and I always thought it was funny when my friends commented on how clean my room was while I'd be thinking of what a disaster it was with books unshelved or folded laundry that was not yet put away. I was am a bit nuts.
 
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