National Child Protection Week

A study has just been released in Australia that says that just one third of Australians would call police if a child told them they were being sexually abused.

The results, released on Wednesday, showed that 48 per cent of people would not take action in clear-cut examples of child abuse for fear they might be wrong, while 42 per cent said they did not think it was their business. But most of the 22,000 people surveyed by the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN) believed child abuse was a serious issue.

Since March, when I went public with my own history of abuse, there has been literally thousand of blogs, forums and tweets discussing my case. So many people couldn’t believe that it had been allowed to happen. People are outraged. People all claim that they would have done something. However, if you were really put in that spot, would you have? This study shows, maybe not.

People have judged me for going public. A lot of people are upset by the “Trial by Media”. However, I wouldn’t have done it any differently if I had to do it over again. By going public, it has forced people to talk about it. It’s forced people to think about what they would do if confronted by the same situation. It made witnesses come forward and talk to the police about it. People who otherwise may have been too scared to speak, in case they heard the infamous, “You’ll never work in this country again” line. Unfortunately, TV in Australia is a tiny community. People are terrified of speaking out of school. It’s very easy to be blacklisted and never work again. I have no doubt that if this was not public that many people would still be denying knowledge of the situation because they’d be scared to talk about it.

I really hope that by speaking out, that parents are thinking very hard about whether to put their kids into acting or modeling. I hope that if they are in the biz, they’re watching their kids like hawks.

I hope that people will get the courage to speak up if they see abuse. If a kid tells you something is not right, go investigate it for yourself if you don’t believe them. Then go to the police. Then get your kid some help. Call Bravehearts or any other child advocacy group.

Don’t let happen to your kids what happened to me. Don’t be the 2/3rds of Australia that would just look the other way. Even if it’s not your kid. It’s your job to protect them. They came to you, they asked for your help. Do the right thing and get them the help they need.

Go to the Bravehearts website to learn more about Breaking the Silence on Child Sexual Assault.

White Balloon Day Events

It’s only a few days now till White Balloon Day. Do you have anything planned?

I really wanted to be able to come home to attend some events, but the police asked me to hold off till next year, since they’re still investigating. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get out there and have some fun while raising money for a fantastic cause.

There are events all over Australia. Check out the Event Page on the White Balloon Day website to find something near you. If you can’t find one, you can organize your own event.

There are other ways to Get Involved. Buy a White Balloon, wear white, or just listen to a child who has something to tell you…

There are also Highway Thunder events, and if you’re into something a little more glitzy, there’s a big event for Bravehearts on the 10th, which I really wish I could make it to; The Shine the Light Gala at the Sydney Opera House Marquee.

So go ahead, get involved and make Australia the safest place to raise a child.

James Lee still holed up at Discovery

James Lee is holed up inside the Discovery building at Silver Spring Maryland. I am watching the live streaming on CNN. It’s crazy, cause this is the same building where I attended the Travel Channel Academy 2 years ago.

Travel Channel no longer runs that Travel Channel Academy, so thankfully there aren’t a bunch of students in there, but it sucks to be one of the employees who are currently taken hostage.

Apparently, James Lee has already been arrested for his protests. He’s got some strong views on Discovery, and how they’re not doing enough to help save the planet.

I hope he’s talking about channels like TLC, who have shows like Jon and Kate plus 8, or those perpetual breeders, the Duggars. They’ve also just announced 2 more massive population overload shows about multiples and polygamists. Instead of protesting publicly, I simply make a silent protest by not watching these shows.

Discovery has some great programming on it’s other channels though. I do wish that shark week would be nicer to sharks and stop portraying them as man hunters. They could do more to create awareness for shark conservation. However, Planet Green has great stuff, and Animal Planet is all about animal conservation. Think of all the great work Steve Irwin did on Animal Planet. Phillipe Cousteau is on Planet Green, helping to raise awareness on Ocean Conservation.

James Lee is complaining that Discovery is not doing enough to actually save the planet and that “The Discovery Channel is actually not about saving the planet, they are just another ‘green’ corporation whose real interests lies in money, products, junk and trash”. Well duh James, Discovery is a corporation. The whole point of owning a TV network is to make money. They’re not a non profit company who’s sole mission is to save the planet. Why would an individual think that a TV network should be responsible for saving the planet? If you don’t like it, change the channel.

I really hope those tanks strapped to his back aren’t explosives. The guy is obviously severely misguided. I do find it interesting that the CNN commentator keeps going on and on about the fact that Lee doesn’t want kids. Like that’s what makes him crazy. Matt and I don’t want kids. That doesn’t make us nut jobs who would take people hostages. There are lots of other people out there who don’t want kids either. Try focusing on something else.

The Travel Channel office is still in this building. I met some really great people there a couple of years ago. I hope they all make it out ok.

Happy Birthday Big Brother.

It’s my brother Mark’s birthday today. He’s turning 39!

I was hoping to have been home for his birthday. It was going to coincide nicely with White Balloon Day, but the police asked that I not come home this year, while they’re still investigating…. So, I’ll just have to settle for calling him later when he wakes up.

Oh well, maybe next year for the big 40 I’ll make it down and be able to give him a big bear hug.

Hope you have a great day Marky. I love you!

I got into Ft Lauderdale on Friday afternoon. The H2O racers had a meeting at the hotel and then everyone pretty much disappeared. I had gotten up at 5am to get here, so I went upstairs and crashed. We had to be at the boat at 7am, so I needed to get some sleep!
We got up and went and ate before heading off to the boat. I had brought Matt’s gear with me, but I had to make some adjustment, since his computer was on the fritz.
We headed out and it only took us about 20 mins to get to the dive site.
I was filming everyone get in and out of the water and everyone else was filming underwater or racing their scooters. Once everyone was in, I got suited up and headed down the line.
There was a strong current, but there was a line all the way to the bow and I was told to just go down it, hand over hand and I could meet up with other people down there.
They weren’t kidding about the current, but there was good visibility and it didn’t take me long to see the wreck.
I got down in the bow, and had a great view of the racers while hiding in the lee of the current. There was a tonne of fish. I really didn’t even go explore the rest of the wreck, There was so much to see right there without exerting myself on my first dive. When people had done racing, we headed back up the line. I was pretty happy since I’m normally pretty nervous and have trouble descending. But this time, since I wasn’t on any one else’s timeframe, I did just fine.
We moved to another shallow location. We could see the wreck from the boat. We jumped in and then had some fun. I grabbed onto David and his scooter and hitched a ride.
Later back on land, there was a briefing while we went over the race tomorrow.
Tonight, were going to head out to see what’s fun on a Saturday night in Ft Lauderdale.

I’m headed to Florida!

So after the whole “Hey Dad Sex Scandal” broke, I decided I wasn’t going to do any work on Going Down for a while. I didn’t want people to think the only reason for going public was to create publicity for the show, so I decided to just put it on hold for a while.
Then, with the end of summer fast aproaching, I started to feel a little depressed that I didn’t get any diving in this year. So, I was so excited to see that at least David was doing some exciting stuff with the Formula H2O racing. After blogging about it, we talked on the phone, and he says, “Why don’t you come down and film it?”  I thought about it and it sounded super exciting. A weekend in sunny Ft. Lauderdale, filming some cool scuba adventures. I was thinking, I can’t really put my life on hold forever, waiting for this to go to trial. I have to get on with life. So, I said, let me talk to Matt.

So, having decided I wasn’t going to let Oz hold me back, the only thing left was dealing with the financials of going. It’s pretty last minute. It’s already Tuesday, and the event starts Friday. Last minute tickets are super pricey, and I’m super cheap. err, Frugal. It’s what makes me a good producer. So I look at tickets. We could get down there for just under $400 each. But then there was still hotel, car, gear and diving. I was still on the fence.

Driving home, stuck in traffic, I remembered that Matt’s Mom had offered us reward tickets she had on Southwest. I wondered if she still had them and if they had weird restrictions like you had to book them 2 weeks in advance and only on a full moon. So I got home, told Matt about filming in Florida, and asked if his Mom still had the tickets, if he wanted to go. He said he had to work, but that I should go. So I called his Mom and she said to get online and find the flight I wanted and she’d get the ticket.

We then headed off to a big family dinner. It was Matt’s great Aunts birthday. About 20 people all got together for some BBQ. I was in a super good mood and was so happy when Matt’s grandpa, who’s just adorable told his sister that I was his favourite grandkid. He melts my heart!

Then it was off back home. I was looking at the host hotel everyone is staying at and they didn’t have prices listed on their website, which made me nervous. I got on travelocity, to see reviews and to get an idea of prices. Then, like he was reading my mind, David emailed and said to call the hotel direct and tell them I was with the racing group. Their price was $59 a night. Score! It’s right on the beach too.

So then all I had to worry about was diving. It’s not cheap in Texas. Since I was flying back Monday midday, I would be able to dive Saturday and Sunday. The scuba shop sponsoring the event, South Florida Diving was running two dive trips for $55 a day. Both days are only $110. That’s so cheap!

David then emails and says there’s going to be a bunch of underwater cameras, and they’re willing to share film, so all I have to worry about it filming topside. Then of course, editing. 

So, I’m stoked. I get to go to Ft. Lauderdale, which I’ve never been to before. I get to go diving. I get to see some cool Formula H20 Racing. I get to spend the weekend with David and his girl Dee. I get to do some filming for Going Down and I don’t have to worry about breaking my budget. Thanks Mom!

Life is good.

Shark Conservation

People who know me in real life know I’m a sucker for sharks. I don’t really like swimming with them, but I recognize their greatness and value their place in the ecosystem. I don’t approve of shark hunting or shark fin soup. I actually boycotted “Bizarre Foods” Andrew Zimmern from Travel Channel after he featured Shark Fin soup on his China episode. I almost cried one day when we were down at the coast and a friend opened his esky (cooler) and he had 5 baby sharks inside. I gave him a long lecture, at which point Matt said to him, I told you not to let her see them! and then I was not feeling bad for him when the Parks and Wildlife ranger came along and gave him tickets for having them.

I had always had a healthy respect for sharks, but it wasn’t till I went to Hatteras to film for Going Down that I truly learnt to love sharks. David Ulloa, the other half of Going Down is so passionate about sharks. He talks about them like they’re little puppies. He explained how they’re not really aggressive. They’re just like dogs. They’re curious. They come and check you out and then they’ll give clues before they bite you. Which they actually rarely do. Think of how much underwater footage you see of sharks. There’s a cameraman down there filming. He’s not getting bit. Neither are his safety divers.

Sharks get a bad wrap. If you walked into the middle of the African jungle and get eaten by a tiger, people don’t all band together and go hunt down the tiger. Yet, if someone is swimming in the middle of the ocean and gets bit by a shark, there’s a lynch mob just itching to go shark hunting. It’s crazy. Sharks keep the ecology of the ocean in balance. They’re a vital element in the ecosystem. They’re also beautiful to watch and should be admired for having been around for so long without really changing over the past few thousand years.

So now David has found a new way to help save the sharks. He’s combined his favourite things, Scuba, Sharks and Racing, and is now going to be “Team Shark Whisperer” in the Formula H2O racing series.

Basically, they take underwater scooters and race around artificial reefs. Sounds awesome! I’ll be keeping up with his adventures and posting updates on Going Down, so you can check it out there.

David will be racing to give attention and all winnings to educational organizations and conservation groups.   This year he will be working with Shark Savers and the JR Dunlap Marine Conservation Program at the University of Miami.  http://www.sharksavers.org/ http://www.rjd.miami.edu/ Both are wonderful organizations that work to educate and inform the public about the importance of sharks in our aquatic ecosystem.   He will also be creating a website at http://www.racingtohelpsharks.com in the next day or two.

Here’s wishing David best of luck with the race. I hope he can change a lot of people’s opinions about sharks and make them see them for the beautiful creatures that they are.

Are they the worst parents on Earth?

Well, maybe not, but they’re certainly not in line for any parent of the year awards either.

You see it all the time here. Child stars who are screwed over by their parents. Gary Coleman had all his money taken, Lindsay Lohan has two equally screwed parents. One’s in an out of jail, the other used her as a way to skip the line at clubs and get free ice-cream. Macaulay Culkin had some winner parents, fighting not over him, but his funds. There’s more screwed over former child stars than I can list.

Of course, there’s some good ones in the group. Unfortunately, it seems like it’s a 8/2 ratio. The eight being the bad parents. Most stage parents are like the ones in the Bruno video above. They don’t give a shit about their kids safety, or if the kid wants to do it or not. All they can think about is living vicariously through their kids, or paying the rent.

The average kid in Hollywood goes on 90 auditons for each one they get. They get told they’re not cute enough, they’re too fat, they sound funny. That’s so much rejection for a little person to deal with. Their parents keep dragging them to the next audition though, just in case this one is their “Big Break”.

I’ve met some great stage parents. When I was teaching acting classes, there was some parents who brought their kids along because they thought it would be a great way for their kids to learn some confidence, get to play with other kids, learn to speak in public. Then there’s the ones who don’t care that their kid hates the class. They want their kid to learn so they can pack off to Hollywood and live off their kid. They didn’t care how much classes cost, it was all just an investment in their future.

I think parents shouldn’t try to live vicariously through their kids. I also don’t think they should expect their kids to pay the bills. At least here in the US, they now have to put the majority of the money in trust, but there’s still ways around it. Kids can make millions of dollars and still be broke and unemployed when they’re 18.

It’s a parents job to protect their kids. If parents are expoiting their kids, and the kid is a working enough to support themselves, they should be able to emancipate themselves from their parents, like Michelle Williams did. Most working child stars act more grown up than their parents anyway.

Are you kidding me?

After yesterday’s post on Mary Kate talking about her childhood and seeing all the comments from people dissing celebs who don’t always appreciate the attention, I was amazed to find how many photographers are now latching on to the fake paparazzi thing. Take for example, Celeb 4 a Day. This is an entire agency devoted to making ordinary people feel like celebrities for a day, by stalking them with paparazzi for an hour. Seriously. For $250, they’ll stalk you for 30 minutes, snapping pics and asking you about yourself. If you want to feel like a mega star, you can spend $1500 and have your own bodyguard and publicist and 6 paparazzi who’ll follow you for 2 hours.

For $1500, Matt and I could spend a week in Mexico in a beautiful resort. Airfare included. Seriously, what kind of attention starved individual would pay $1500 for 2 hours to feel like a celeb? What’s worse, is that for 2 hours, it might be a lot of fun. Then said individual will try to work out how to be in the spotlight more. (Yes, I’m talking about you Kim Kardashian) Then, years later, when they are an actual celeb, they’ll start to hate the same paparazzi, the ones who they no longer have pay for, but who continue to stalk them.

A quick Google search shows that even regular photo studios are offering paparazzi packages. You just give them your regular schedule, and they’ll be hiding behind tress, waiting to take real life shots of you. Now, I’m a fan of candid shots, I like real life action shots much better than posed photos. However, calling it a paparazzi package and catering to people’s need to be famous just seems kinda sick.

I guess the grass is always greener on the other side. Those who live as ordinary citizens wish for the perceived glamour and lifestyle that stars get. Celebs wish they could just blend in and go get some Starbucks without being stalked. I guess since I grew up on TV, cameras were just part of growing up. I always longed to be an ordinary person. I’d hate to be a celebrity these days. Maybe the 2 hour package is long enough for people to realize it’s not that great. My Woman’s Day photo shoot was fun at first. It had been a while since I got to play dress up, and it’s always nice to have someone else do your hair and make-up. Matt didn’t realize just how long a photo shoot lasts and holding a smile for more than an hour is tiring! We both went home exhausted. I was very happy to go back to being a nobody again after that day. Well, until I had to fly to Oz and then hide out while there… After that, Matt said he had never seen me so happy to get back to San Antonio.

It’s a pity the Celeb 4 a day people aren’t in San Antonio. I’m a good photographer and it could be fun to be on the other side of the camera for a change….

‘I would never wish my upbringing on anyone’

This seems to be a recurring statement among former child stars. This time, it’s been uttered by Mary Kate Olsen, one half of the Olsen twins who grew up on Full House.

The twins started on Full House when they were only a year old. They appeared in dozens of movies and were self made millionaires by the time they were 10 years old. On paper at least, they’ve been producers since they were kids and are now successful entrepreneurs, with their own fashion line.

Like most Former Child Stars, they feel like they missed something from their youth. They didn’t get to do normal kid stuff. While other kids were out playing and having a good time, they were inside working, expected to act like adults.

Reading comments on the twins, especially in the article linked above, people just don’t get what it’s like to be a child actor. Everyone says, Boo Hoo, Poor you and think you’re a spoilt brat. Sure, she may have money, but money can’t buy you happiness. It can’t buy you love and it can’t buy your sanity.

Everywhere these girls go, they’re scrutinized. They’re followed by cameras. They’re being judged. Most people have no idea what it’s like to be constantly talked about. People have this obsession with fame and want to be rich and famous, but they don’t get what it really means. Just because you’re out there on Twitter and giving too much information on Facebook doesn’t have any correlation whatsoever to what it’s like to really be famous.

Growing up on television and in the public eye is way harder than people think. It’s hard enough going through puberty as it is, without the entire world discussing your first period or first bra. Imagine if your first kiss is scripted. Most people fondly remember their first kiss. What is that was taken away from you by some producer who wanted you to kiss someone for a scene? How do you find your first real boyfriend? How do you know they aren’t just there for the fame? How do you lose your virginity without wondering if you’re going to end up with a sex tape?

Being a child actor sucks. There’s a reason almost everyone in the industry says they’d never let their kids act and why most former child stars agree it wasn’t a good upbringing. There’s child labour laws preventing most kids from losing their childhoods to work. Somehow, that doesn’t translate to media. It’s OK for kids to work, to be treated like adults, to be exposed to adult situations. I don’t get it. I know it would be hard to make television or movies without kids, but I still think more should be done to keep kid actors as kids and help them get the most out of being kids. Growing up too quickly fucks a lot of people up. Just because you’re famous doesn’t make it any different. It just means more people get to call you a screw up.