Jada Pinkett Smith: My kids are individuals

Jada Pinkett Smith shields her famous children from critics by instilling the importance of individuality.

The actress shares Willow, 12, and Jaden, 14, with husband of 14 years, Will Smith.

The pair are following in their parents footsteps with budding careers in showbusiness.

And Jada has found the only way to keep them shielded from critics is to 'instill the power of individuality', she told People magazine.

"We. communicate with our kids in a way that our message overpowers any other message that they get out there,' she explained.

The actress said she's worked on building a partnership with her kids.

She also confronts rumours involving the family head on and has 'real conversations' with Jaden and Willow about idle gossip to help them feel self-assured.

"We can''t control what our kids learn anymore," she said.

"I think for our children. they feel like we really care and they come to us and go, ''Mommy, I''m having this problem.'' And it''s like, ''Okay, let''s figure this out together.''