Jada Pinkett Smith Admits She Doesn’t Regret Raising Her Kids With ‘A Taste’ of Hard Work

Although Jada Pinkett Smith has been praised for raising her two kids — Jaden Smith, 20, and Willow Smith, 18 — with husband Will Smith to be very thoughtful and appreciative, she’s also received some backlash for insisting her children work at a young age to teach about them about success.

“As much as people got on me in regards to having them work early, I did not want them to grow up thinking that because they were in the midst of affluence that they did not have to grind or work hard on their own,” Jada, 47, said on her popular Facebook Watch series Red Table Talk, adding that she gave Willow and Jaden “a taste” of hard work. “They really had a lot of respect for their parents in regards to what we were doing,” she revealed.

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Working at a young age not only helped Willow and Jaden to be more appreciative of everything that they have, but it also taught them to have a strong work ethic. “These hours, this work ethic, you have to be on time. I think also they had to start their charity lifestyle very early, [at] 5 years old they were in the orphanages at homeless shelters,” Jada shared. “They got to see that there’s life beyond all the twinkles and lights. That was really important to me, that they understood that listen you guys are really privileged and you are to learn how to offer and offer yourself and be in service to the world.”

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Will, 50, didn’t dispute his wife’s parenting techniques either. “I think Will and I always led with that,” Jada explained. “[Willow and Jaden] got to see very early, life is not a game and all of this here it’s not yours, me and daddy worked for all of this. I’d tell them, ‘Your room? That’s temporary! That ain’t your room, that’s a room you’re using in our house.’”