star kids burn outBy Paul Kent


Bindi Irwin's recent rise as Australian tourism icon and child television star continues with due speed and the popular vote for her to become the face of Australian tourism is celebrated, not cautioned.

We can be too nice, you know. It is almost as if, given the delicate mood caused by the death of her father, Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, people are content to let Bindi, eight, do as she wishes so long as it helps take her mind away from the pain of her father's death.

But there is a responsibility for Bindi, one that begins with her immediate family and, given her unusual status in Australia, spreads to all of us.

The first thing that should be done by TotalTravel.com - where online voters say the young Irwin should be the new face of Australian tourism - is drop Bindi from the list.

Show some duty of care to the kid. Too many have gone before her. Drew Barrymore was seven when she shot to fame in E.T. At 12 she was an alcoholic and cocaine addict.

Tatum O'Neal won an Oscar at 10 - she became a heroin addict and attempted suicide.

Judy Garland began popping pills on set at 10. After a lifetime of being known as a "pill-popper", of turning up on set with a flask of gin and after several suicide attempts, she finally died from an overdose.

The three child stars from Diff'rent Strokes variously divorced their parents and ended up broke (Gary Coleman), shot their drug dealer and ended up in jail (Todd Bridges), or made pornos to support their drug habit and ended up dead from an overdose (Dana Plato).

"Fame is like a needle in your arm," Bridges said. "When it is withdrawn, life is brutal."

Jack Wild was nominated for an Oscar as the Artful Dodger in Oliver! when he was 16 - he died last year after battling alcohol all his life.

When Daniel Radcliffe first found success as Harry Potter, Wild wrote him a letter warning of the pitfalls of early fame - a firsthand warning from a man who had been there, overdone that.

"Like other child stars, I paid a high price for my instant success," Wild explained later, in an interview.

"I was suddenly a jet-setter, briefly the toast of Hollywood and London's West End.

"My immature wishes and naive opinions were treated with respect. It was all so flattering and seductive that if you were not careful, you came to believe you really deserved superstar treatment. That was part of my problem. That and a craving for booze."

Britney Spears was once the shining child star of the Mickey Mouse Club yet now, after two failed marriages, allegations of cocaine use and an apparent breakdown that culminated in her shaving her head and attacking a car, she is trying to get herself right again, all in time for her 26th birthday.

After Spears's breakdown Paul Peterson, a former child star on The Donna Reed Show, offered his help. Peterson is not just a former child star but runs Hollywood support group A Minority Consideration.

"When fame comes too quickly, as years go by you begin to loathe that person that you once were," he said.

He believes Spears's weird behaviour stemmed from "the way she was exploited when she was 15 and 16 years old".

"Unless you've developed your character and gotten your education in a competitive environment, you begin to start looking over your shoulder. 'I'm not worth it. Why do people know me?'.

"And then you begin to act out their fantasies instead of being what you need to be."

All of these child stars started out with parents who believed they had their child's best intentions at heart. It is up to Terri Irwin to decide how best to bring up Bindi, but right now she is not only a single parent but a grieving parent.

Her recent tears at the Logies showed the wounds are still fresh and painful. She needs a strong support network around her, and people such as TotalTravel.com and others throwing work at her daughter could well be contributing to her problems down the line, not solving them. Bindi no longer has her father there to protect her. Not just as a dad, but as the lightning rod for all that attention drawn to their television and conservation work.

With Steve Irwin no longer around, at least part of that attention has begun to fall on Bindi. A kid of eight. Bear that in mind when you consider Peterson's warning.

The great appeal of Steve Irwin was always that the little child inside him was never far away. It would be a tragedy if that was the first thing lost in his little girl.