John White/INFphoto.com; Kevin Winter/Getty Images; Jason Merritt/Getty ImagesNo, teen stardom is not all American Rag shopping sprees, and here's why:
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1. The Scrutiny: Go ask the twentysomething Glee "kids" how fun it is be in high school. Your fan base is young and passionate, and wants to know every detail of your life. Your fan base's parents are old and codgerly, and want to criticize every detail of your life—especially those aspects concerning clothes, no clothes and poles. Should it be any surprise when the likes of Lovato, who belatedly learned she was also up againstbipolar disorder, need a timeout?
2. The Parents: It's bad enough when you make tabloid trouble for yourself with a (perfectly legal) psychoactive plant. Imagine on top of that having Mom and Pop, whom you're pretty much stuck with, making tabloid trouble, too. (Then, once you're done imagining, stop wondering why Lindsay Lohan is where Lindsay Lohan is these days, namely, in court.)
3. The Internet: From Jodie Foster to Melissa Joan Hart, former teen stars say today's teen stars have it worse than they did. Sure, they're partly being biased fogies who think their times were the best times. But they're also correctly recognizing that the World Wide Webs has made the whole wide world a lot smaller, in a scary, just-leave-Rebecca Black-alone sort of way.
4. The Jealousy: When you're rich and famous and on your own, you can build a moat around your castle. When you're rich and famous and in fifth period, you're screwed. "I was happy to leave school at 14…," Kristen Stewart once said. "[At school] I definitely got, 'Oh, she's such a bitch.' I was like, 'You've never spoken to me, but you think I'm a bitch? Great."
5. The Raging Hormones: This explains a lot about all teens, and not just teen stars and/or the cast of Teen Mom. It probably also explains a lot about Charlie Sheen, so this condition shouldn't be considered unique to the young.