[slideshow_deploy id=’9656′]
Every day we hear about the latest child stars who have been arrested, have gone to rehab, or have been twerking excessively. Recent child stars like Amanda Bynes and Lindsay Lohan haven’t made it through adolescence as gracefully as hoped, having too much of everything — except good parenting.
Many of these child stars have parents as their managers and feel the pressure to make money to support their families. Being in the spotlight and acting ended up being a burden, rather than a blessing.
Young celebrities have the freedom to do whatever they want, whenever they want. They have extensive bank accounts monitored by their parents, whom, in the case of Macaulay Culkin and Drew Barrymore, they sometimes end up in a legal battle with. It is no longer a family but a business arrangement. Amanda Bynes’ unpredictable behavior, plastic surgery and cheek piercings have forced her parents to take control of her wellbeing and she is currently on psychiatric hold.
These stars are also growing up in the public eye and are criticized for everything they do, which leads to more pressure and greater downfalls. Female stars are scrutinized to an extreme for being too sweet or too sexy and living up to the image they morph into. But where is the guidance? Whom can they look up to when their own parents, like Lindsay Lohan’s mom Dina, are partying with them or encouraging their bizarre behavior? Where are the rules and boundaries? There are none.
Billy Ray Cyrus insists Miley is still his little girl after her controversial Video Music Awards performance. Newsflash: even though she’s Miley “Ray” Cyrus, she’s not his little girl. This former daddy’s girl is giving her father an “achy breaky heart.”
By the time most teenagers or young adults are getting driver’s licenses, earning diplomas and heading off to college, these child icons are driving under the influence, earning reputations as troubled stars and heading to jail. They may be 16, 18 or 21 but they’ve fulfilled the stereotype of the entertainment world — spiraling, out-of-control behavior.
There are exceptions; many child stars have thrived with only minor bumps in the road, like successful Oscar-winning actresses Natalie Portman and Jodi Foster. Leonardo DiCaprio and Ryan Gosling also have thriving careers. But more often than not, young stars become adults who want nothing to do with their parents or their life in the public eye.
Maybe Cyrus is going through a phase, and Lohan’s recent stint in rehab will be her last, and Bynes will get her life together. But as long as these stars have negative influences around them — including their own parents — the cycle will continue indefinitely.
