Will Smith reveals that he exposes his children to harsh criticism in a bid to help them build self-confidence

'I want them to experience as much trauma': Will Smith says he wants to expose his teenage children to harsh criticism to toughen them up for the 'hard world' He is no stranger to the public scrutiny that comes with being a Hollywood movie star. So it's no wonder that Will Smith has a plan to equip his son Jaden, 17, and Willow, 15, with skills to remain unfazed by the pressures of living in the limelight. 'I want them to experience as much trauma as they can without them getting broken', explained the 47-year-old in an interview with News Corp this week.

'The world is hard so I want them to be able to hear people's opinions and take what people say and what people think and grant people their own views without that breaking their self-confidence', he continued. He pinpointed his daughter Willow as having a harder time dealing with negative press due to her young age, before adding that his eldest son Trey, 23, doesn't receive nearly as much criticism. Will has never been one to shy away from speaking out about the struggles of family life, having recently admitted to Entertainment Tonight that his 20-year marriage to Jada Pinkett Smith,44, has been far from easy.

'It’s like our marriage was the most difficult, gruelling, excruciating thing that we have ever taken on in our lives. And you know we're just not quitters,' he revealed. He also said during the interview that he believes the secret to a good marriage is to treat the union like a work in progress. 'I would say is that we never went into working on our relationship. We only ever worked on ourselves individually, and then presented ourselves to one another better than we were previously,' he explained.

Will and Jada are frequently plagued with divorce rumors; the most recent having occurred in August last year. Taking to Facebook with a powerful rebuttal, he wrote at the time: 'So, in the interest of redundant, repetitious, over & over-again-ness... Jada and I are...NOT GETTING A DIVORCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!' He continued: 'I promise you all - if I ever decide to divorce my Queen - I SWEAR I'll tell you myself! ‪#‎Dumb‬ People Should Have to Wear Scarlet D's.' Jada echoed her husband's sentiments on Twitter, posting: 'My king has spoken'.