Willow Smith Pierces tongue (Photo : Willow Smith's Instagram)

Willow Smith, 11, has been named a prodigy, a wunderkind, and also a free spirit. The young starlet has made a name for herself after her 2010 single, "Whip My Hair". Smith's famous parents, actors, Will and Jada Smith have been criticized for allowing their daughter freedom to "express herself". Expressing herself has been done through shaving her head, dying her hair, and eccentric fashion choices -- all this before she even becomes a teenager. Many question if the child-star is spiraling out of control.

Photo Credit: Flickr

Over the weekend, Willow took to her Instagram to post a photo of she and a friend (presumably around the same age) flaunting new piercings, a chin ring for the friend and a tongue ring for little Ms. Smith. After a barrage of outrage left by appalled commenters, Willow revealed that the tongue ring was actually a fake. Still, many find that this behavior is neither appropriate nor healthy of such a young person.

In an interview with Parade, ;Will Smith has explained why he and his wife allow their kids ample freedom.

"We let Willow cut her hair. When you have a little girl, it's like how can you teach her that you're in control of her body? If I teach her that I'm in charge of whether or not she can touch her hair, she's going to replace me with some other man when she goes out in the world. She can't cut my hair but that's her hair. She has got to have command of her body. So when she goes out into the world, she's going out with a command that it is hers. She is used to making those decisions herself. We try to keep giving them those decisions until they can hold the full weight of their lives."

Interesting point, but how much control is too much?

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