Huffington Magazine Issue 17 | Page 81

Exit CELEBRITY journal of Child Development found that teenagers who work 20plus hours per week have a higher incidence of drug and alcohol use. The study underscores a sentiment expressed by former Mickey Mouse Club member Paul Petersen, who founded the child-actor support group A Minor Consideration: “Fame is a dangerous commodity for a young person. It distorts the entire maturation process. You are subjected to forces that are almost incomprehensible to people who have never been ‘famous.’” Disney both acknowledges that they play a role in its performers’ welfare, and denies liability. “We give them all of the tools they might need, but the network is not responsible for raising their children,” Gary Marsh, the president of Disney Channels Worldwide told The Hollywood Reporter in June. But Petersen says that when networks are pushing their actors to become multi-million dollar franchises, they do have a responsibility to help them adjust to the inevitable pitfalls of fame. “Whenever a c hild grows up in an environment when they are the income earner, you have the world kind of turned on its head,” he says. HUFFINGTON 10.07.12 Petersen — whose group has been called to sets to perform interventions with children struggling emotionally — welcomes the arrival of programs like Talent 101, but he says what young stars really need is support from those who have been there. “Outsiders can’t help these kids — there is so much resistance from a young performer to Whenever a child grows up in an environment when they are the income earner, you have the world kind of turned on its head.” listen to anyone else other than someone who has been through it themselves,” he says. As for Bynes, Petersen observes: “We are watching what amounts to a cry for help. And the kind of help that’s required is not another movie role, or a spread in a magazine.” Ultimately, he says, “The solution is often to take a break.” Swipe down to see where Disney/Nickelodeon stars are today