Tony Dow was reportedly very well-behaved compared to his child star peers [Video]

Every kid thinks they can be famous nowadays. More than half of all polled Generation Zers think they ”can easily make a career in influencing,” according to MSNBC. There have always been famous kids, but social media changed the ways kids can get famous. It democratized fame. Now, kids can become famous without grown-ups. They don’t need a studio system, a management team, or even their parents. 

In bygone eras, all those extra facilitators, all the agents, publicists, and handlers involved in keeping a child famous, could also enable some really bad behavior. When there are grownups whose livelihood is dependent on your ability to perform in a show or a movie, those grownups will put up with anything to make sure you can do your job. It can’t be good for a kid’s psychology to look out on a whole mini-economy built around their acting skills. Those kids probably …