Tia Mowry draws mixed reactions after saying it isn’t the parent’s job to ‘make your kids happy’

Tia Mowry has sparked debate after sharing her latest parenting approach.

The 47-year-old actor opened up about raising her two children — Cree, 14, and Cairo, seven — with ex-husband Cory Hardrict during a recent interview with Parade. Mowry said that after she grew up in an up environment where the adults were in charge, she wanted to abide by a different strategy.

“I think growing up, it was definitely a cultural thing where it's like, 'My house, my rules.’ I didn't want to do that with my children. I wanted my children to never be afraid to express themselves,” the mother explained.

The Sister, Sister alum said that she wants her children to become independent, so she believes it’s their responsibility to find what makes them happy.

“I don't think it is your job to make your kids happy. I think that it is your job to keep your kids safe, nurture them, guide them, but they have to learn on their own how to make themselves happy, because we don't want to create co-dependency,” she explained.

She acknowledged that she wouldn’t make her daughter do something she didn’t want to do, such as giving a kiss to an overbearing relative. “If you're not in the mood, then you're not in the mood,” the Family Reunion star said.

There have been mixed reactions to Mowry’s argument online, with some agreeing with the actor’s take.

“Let them learn to be responsible for their own happiness so they don't grow up expecting others to be responsible for making them happy,” one person wrote in the comments of a BuzzFeed article about the actor’s remarks.

“Parents have to teach kids how to deal with struggles and disappointments so they can effectively deal with negative situation when they are older,” another added. “A lot of parents ‘bulldoze’ any and all life struggles in their children’s way. When the child is an adult, they have no coping skills.”

A third agreed: “My mom raised my six sisters and me with the idea that she needed to make us happy and for us to like her. This damaged us and our relationship because the happiness she wanted to provide as children came at the expense of safety, leadership, life skills, and decision-making as adults.”

However, others questioned Mowry’s stance, with one writing: “I think you can make your kids happy and foster independence. I'm not sure why these are mutually exclusive in her world.”

Mowry, who announced her split from Hardrict in 2022, has continued to speak openly about her parenting style, including how she navigates raising her children in the spotlight. During an interview with Entertainment Tonight in June, she discussed how she shields Cree and Cairo from the “craziness of Hollywood. “

“I think it's all about just staying true to who you are,” she said. “Trends, they come and go. I've never been that type of person to hop on a trend. I've always been myself, you know. So I think just walking in truth, in authenticity, has been really, really really important. So I definitely want that for my children, you know.”