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Child stars

Child Stars Ignoring mental illness or the typical “ they just snapped,” how can we explaintheir behaviors?
Child stars have been known to shine and lovable in the beginning of their career but a few years down the line they acquire a different look and become the topic of gossip as they make a 180 degrees transformation to the opposite of what they were. This is a common scenario with almost 80% of the child stars not only in the United States but in the world as well. The most common of these child stars is Britney Spears and the latest of them is Miley Cyrus. There are several explanations for their transformations and a concrete explanation of their behavior which should not just be taken at face value. The stigma management theory is the best explanation as will be discussed in detail below.
According to Durkee (2012), child stars live a double life: they are still their parent’s children and have to abide by their rules and even be “ normal” when attending school and also there is the life of a star highlighted by fame, accessories, paparazzi, and another totally different life under the limelight and flashing bulbs of “ lights, camera, action.” This eventually takes a toll on them because they are still young and are also experiencing adolescence which is a period marked with turmoil and attempt to independence away from parents. What happens therefore is that majority of them fall into the wrong company and wrong advisors and end up with drug addiction to help sort out their life and make decisions. This is what happened to Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears among others.
For those who do not end up with substance abuse and addiction like Miley Cyrus, they chose disobedience and acting out as a way of coping with their problems. Disobedience of parents and other social support system and deciding to be an adult earlier than the years indicate leads to making wrong decisions that ultimately affect one’s career and fame as the fame light bulb starts to flicker and eventually completely stops leaving one stigmatized and with nowhere to turn to. Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato are the perfect examples who defied their parents and distanced themselves from their loved ones and adopted a deviant lifestyle of “ adult independence” in terms of their dressing and their star activity leading to even their fans distancing themselves from them.
Stigma management aims at stopping the stigmatization that the society has upon these child stars once they start becoming famous. The pressure of excelling and coping with the changes is too much for them as they are still children and they should be more tolerant and patient. Stigma management which is what most child stars eventually turn to involves different steps and therapies the first being open admittance of the existence of a problem and the stigma that surrounds it. What follows is surrounding oneself with people and information that would help one recover for example for addicts going to rehab and being determined to get and remain clean and clear off drugs. The last step is positivity. This involves being positive about the challenges that one will encounter as this is the only way that would prevent relapse and enable one deal with the stigma aftermaths as well as the fame pressure (Goffman 146).
Work Cited
Durkee, Curtler. People: Child Stars, Then & Now: Catching Up with More Than 100 Showbiz Kids. Where Are They Today? New York: Time Home Entertainment, 2012.
Goffman, Erving. Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010.

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