Why fame is bad for children

Many influencers have already perhaps unintentionally discovered what experts say is the best way to protect oneself against the dangers of fame. By using influence to help the world and raise awareness about causes you're passionate about, you're actually establishing a deeper sense of who you are as a person.

You are living out your values. One example of this is the teenager who filmed makeup tutorials on TikTok while talking about China's treatment of Muslims as they work in internment camps in Xinjian. And both Charli and Dixie D'Amelio, two of the most famous people on TikTok, have already participated in multiple efforts to help the collective good , including a recent anti-bullying project with Unicef and promoting body positivity.

Dixie D'Amelio told Insider in a previous interview that she loves using her platform to "raise awareness and money for good causes. Research suggests that kids who take advantage of that opportunity in a positive way can lead to better-adjusted adult lives, something that all psychologists interviewed for this piece agreed on. But the onus is also on parents of these kids to keep them grounded, Mc Mahon said, though that is another challenge in and of itself.

Certain measures, like a parent trying to take away their kid's phone, will likely "backfire," especially during a time like the coronavirus pandemic when everyone is stuck inside the home. Rockwell said she recommends child stars work with coaches and therapists "to help the child remain grounded and stay centered so they can withstand this impact of fame. Still, there's another group who holds some responsibility here: the general public.

World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. Get the Insider App. Click here to learn more. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation. Rachel E. It puts unrealistic expectations on teenagers which can mess up their state of mind. People who became famous too early in their life often got affected in negative ways in the future.

A celebrity lifestyle comes with the stress of the celebrity press, threatening letters or calls, no privacy and constant monitoring of their lives. These stress factors often lead to depression and can even lead to suicidal thoughts and drug addiction. One such celebrity gone bad is Lindsay Lohan. Lohan began her career as well as her pathway to fame from an early age of 3, and as she was in her 20s, her career had a sudden downfall.

And as the New York Times recently noted in, appropriately, an online video , we don't yet know the effects on a child's development of doing the "emotional labor" involved in constantly performing to entertain others. But we can imagine that acting dramatically -- and potentially engaging in dangerous activities like eating contests or pranks -- in an effort to drive up viewership will often be less beneficial to a kid than spending that time, say, reading a book instead.

Stay up to date The children doing this work need protection. In California, the Child Actor's bill, popularly known as the Coogan law, sets aside a portion of a young actor's earnings for when they become adults. Similar laws are on the books in many states, while other state safeguards protect child actors by ensuring that they receive adequate schooling and time off work.

What we need now is a federal law mandating that kids who regularly star in YouTube videos still get an education, "work" a limited number of hours per week under safe, healthy conditions and retain at least a portion of the revenue their videos generate.

For a kid today, becoming a YouTube celebrity might not only be more popular than being an astronaut. This is evident in the lives of Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes, who both struggled with drug use and alcohol. In , Lindsay Lohan was arrested twice for being in possession of cocaine and it just went downhill from there. Up until , she was sent to five rehab facilities, appeared in court 20 times and was charged for grand theft, possession of drugs and driving under the influence.

She contradicted her own words through dramatically changing her appearance, being arrested for criminal possession of marijuana, tampering with evidence, and reckless endangerment. Typically, stars starting at a very young age lose their chance at being a kid.

Sometimes kids are forced into fame and are required to grow up really fast. While children are young, parents make the decisions their behalf, often leading them into a childhood with undue pressures. An actors general work day is 12 hours but tends to run late which takes away from the time they should spend playing and being a kid. Because they are deprived of their childhood, they are pressured to act older at a young age and they become more susceptible to peer pressure and other issues around them including addictions and overdoses.

Demi Lovato, a well-known American singer and actress has shone light on this issue with her own personal experiences.