It’s certainly a present that he won’t forget.
Will Smith has revealed his son Jaden wants to move into a house of his own for his 15th birthday.
The teen plans to become emancipated – and wants to be allowed to live independently from his parents.
But the desire doesn’t mean that relations within family have soured, with Smith explaining his son’s plan is a result of the supportive environment in which he has been raised.
Smith explained:
‘He says, “Dad, I want to be emancipated,” I know if we do this, he can be an emancipated minor, because he really wants to have his own place.’
In an interview with The Sun newspaper Smith explained that he and wife Jada Pinkett Smith are eager to teach Jaden and sister Willow, 12, the rights and wrongs of life by allowing them to make their own mistakes instead of using traditional disciplines such as sending them to their room and taking away their luxuries for the day.
He told the Sun newspaper:
‘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.’
Will – who also has 19-year-old son, Trey, from his previous marriage with Sheree Zampino – wants his children to take responsibility for their own lives.
The Men in Black 3 star’s own father Willard – who ran a refrigeration installation business in Philadelphia after leaving the US Air Force – was a very strict parent who believed his son should be seen and not heard so Will was keen for his own offspring have a completely different upbringing to him.
He said:
‘I was brought up with, “You don’t even talk to your parents about what your opinion is, you are not allowed to have an opinion.
‘When you pay some bills, you can have an opinion.” … My parents let me talk now.’
Of course the same can be said of Jaden.
Like his pop star sister he has a successful career of his own.
The Karate Kid star will next be seen in After Earth, in which he plays a starring role opposite his father.
The movie takes place a millennium after humanity has deserted a decaying earth to live among the stars.
Jaden plays Kitai Raige, the son of Smith’s warriro general Cypher Raige.
But it is Jaden who plays the hero after he is forced to embark on a perilous journey to save both his father and himself after their craft crash lands on earth.
A newly released clip shows the Smith’s injured character explaining to his lookalike son that he has no option but to go it alone to save the two of them.
After Earth hits cinemas in the U.S. on May 31.