Kristen Bell has divided the internet after admitting that she told her daughters about Dax Shephard's addiction issues.
The 42-year-old actress appeared as the first cover star for home and lifestyle magazine Real Simple back in February, where she discussed how she tries to be as honest and open with both her children, eight-year-old Delta, and nine-year-old Lincoln.
These topics range from general life advice to sex all the way to their father's battle with addiction.
"I know it's shocking, but I talk to my kids about drugs and the fact that their daddy is an addict and he's in recovery, and we talk about sex," Bell told the outlet.
"There are all these 'hard topics' that don’t have to be if you give the person on the other end your vulnerability and a little bit of credit [...] I hate the word 'taboo'. I think it should be stricken from the dictionary," she added. "There should be no topic that's off the table for people to talk about."
The Veronica Mars star also opened up about the lessons she wishes to embed in her children, stating that her main priority is the way they reflect on their own behavior.
"If there’s one thing I want to teach my kids, it’s how to make amends – and that it’s for themselves, so they can like who’s in the mirror a little bit more," she said, before adding: "Making amends and apologizing is an important thing in our family, because humans leave carnage wherever they go."
"I really respect when someone does something wrong or hurtful and they apologize. I’m like, 'Yeah, right on.' That’s important," the actress concluded.
While the parenting technique might have been quite unique, it seems as though a lot of people were actually on board with it.
"There shouldn’t be anything controversial about discussing truth with your kids, as long as it’s age appropriate," wrote one user. "8 and 9 is absolutely not too young to be discussing these things. Honesty about real life, hard topics is the best thing for kids. Otherwise, they will hear it elsewhere. Great parenting!!!"
"Good for her. She is raising them with awareness of the truth and also what is present in their DNA that they will have to keep a look out for and possibly catch themselves. Hard conversations are the right thing. Digging your head in the sand and secrets in a family wrong!" another added.
A third also praised the mom-of-two writing: "Great parenting there. It’s a good age to learn about their world and their Dad’s health struggle. So good when it can come from your parents."
However, not everyone agreed with some users emphasizing that some topics were a little too much to handle for children of such a young age.
"Not sure why she felt the need to share personal family business, but I do believe that anything we discuss with our children should be age appropriate. Personally, I think 8 and 9 is too young for this topic, but those are her kids, not mine," one user wrote.
And this user also agreed saying this approach was "messed up."
"Super messed up disparaging their father to little kids who can’t possibly understand."
The news comes after Shephard revealed on his podcast Armchair Expert back in 2020 that he'd relapsed that year after 16 years of sobriety, following an addiction to painkillers after a motorcycle accident.
The actor admitted thatit got so bad that he started buying his own pills and then lying to his loved ones about it - that's the point he realized that things were taking a downward spiral. Despite him admitting that he was scared to reveal the truth, he knew it was necessary to have a productive conversation around the topic.
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