Seriously - shouldn't Hollywood be doing something more to protect child actors?

Yes I realize that not every child actor is going to turn into the next Corey Haim or Lindsay Lohan or Dana Plato, but it pretty much seems to be a horrible trend. We love these actors when they are cute and adorable and somewhere someone thinks it's a sick joke to get these kids doing drugs. And many of them have parents who put their greed before the interest of the children.

Personally I think there needs to be a stronger governing body that assures the money earned by these kids actually gets to the kids. Too many of them end up broke because their parents (or even the kids themselves) spend the money like it grows on trees. And what's with letting kids into bars underage? I saw photos of Brittney, Lindsay and the Olson Twins partying at the hottest nightclubs well before they turned 21. Many of them were drinking & smoking before they legally were allowed to do so. If the kid is underage the law is the law - you wouldn't let a non-famous kid in underage why should celebrity status be any different.

I just think something more should be done because it is so sad to see these cute kids end up practically skid row because Hollywood has no longer found any use out of them after the cuteness is gone. I mean a transition can be done - look at Natalie Portman, Anna Paquin or Jodi Foster. They managed the transition but they are the oddity compared to many others.

I know we can't ban underage children from being in shows but there does have to be better options that protect these kids so they can grow up and live normal lives (whether or not they stay in hollywood) and have some of their earnings available to them to keep them afloat fiscally.

Nobody wants to tell these kids no. Most wouldn't listen anyway.

There are already all sorts of laws about what time of the day kids can work, how many hours they can work, and how much schooling they have to have while they're on set.

Everything else is up to the parents.

other than to spend their kids fortunes. That's why several underage kids have emancipated themselves from their parents - to protect their fortunes.

Its how the industry keeps them in line and selling selling and selling.

Why wasn't someone investing the money he was making in such a way that he wouldn't have died broke.

Then again who the hell thought it was cute to have him doing drugs & drinking when he was 12 years old? Why weren't his parents putting a stop to this?

There are laws already in place that protect the assets of child actors:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Child_Actor%27s_Bill

I think what we see are former child actors who, upon reaching the age of majority, spend all the money they've earned on misguided lifestyles. Those lifestyles were most probably cemented during a youth where they were given everything and denied nothing. Of course, the fault lies in their parents, managers and every adult that indulged their inappropriate behavior during the child's formative years. These kids become adults with no boundaries and no concept of personal responsibility. More should be done to protect them and guide them in a direction towards stable adulthood.

However, we are talking about the entertainment industry - probably the cruelest and most shallow profession there is. It eats live adults and evacuates them when they no longer nourish the coffers. For as many wasted child actors there are ten formerly successful "grown" performers who never get over missing the riches and stroking that came with their fleeting fame. The profession is catnip to a mentally unstable personality and the adult who fails after the glory is gone is no less inoculated from the perils of fame than the child.

EDIT: Forgot to add this link:

http://www.minorcon.org