Throughout the 21st century, many childhood stars have grown into healthy adults who are reminiscent and grateful for their time in the spotlight. Others however, choose to bury their experiences of working as a child actor deep in the past. For some working children, life on set isn’t all the glitz and glamor it is made out to be. On these sets abuse and manipulation run rampant, affecting some of the most vulnerable people in our society: children. This issue is explored in HBO Max’s docuseries, “Quiet on Set,” which unveils allegations against producer Dan Schneider, who is accused of allegedly cultivating a toxic, unsafe and exploitative work environment on the set of his popular Nickelodeon shows. Schneider has also been accused of allegedly engaging in inappropriate acts with the underage actors who worked on these shows. The docuseries also exposes the sexual misconduct of other adults who worked closely with the child actors on the set of infamous television shows like “Drake and Josh,” “Zoey 101” and “The Amanda Show.” One of those adults was Brian Peck, an acting and dialect coach for Nickelodeon, who in 2003 pleaded guilty to sexually abusing one of the child actors he worked with: Drake Bell. The series frames the narrative around the first-hand accounts of the victims of abuse at the hands of “trusted” adults. Most importantly, it humanizes the victims by emphasizing the imbalance of power that so often fuels manipulation and exploitation.
“I’ve been watching Nickelodeon all my life,” Kennedi Waller (9) said. “That was what I grew up watching and what I still sometimes watch now. I really didn’t pick up on any of that going on. To me, it was just funny. Like I didn’t understand all the jokes, but I never expected anything like that awful was going on. It’s kind of scary, too. I know that a lot of people and I really wanted to be an actor on Nickelodeon. I even went to an audition for one of their shows when I was younger. I remember being upset I didn’t get the part. It’s crazy how [Nickelodeon] made people want to be a part of their shows. That was all a part of their manipulation.”
Many who viewed the docuseries grew up entranced by the shows discussed. It is no surprise then that when childhood favorites like Drake Bell recounted the abuse they experienced when the cameras were off, viewers saw their cookie-cutter childhood crumble, revealing the façade that is the world of acting on Nickelodeon. For some, disbelief and shock were the first things that came to mind. How could it be possible that these shows that brought comfort to them were a nightmare for those bringing the story to life? The docuseries left many with a seemingly “ruined” childhood.
“I didn’t think it was true; there was no way,” Waller said. “When everything kept coming out, I thought ‘This just can’t be real.’ I didn’t even want to believe it honestly. And when I found out that Dan Schneider went to school here [at White Station High], the whole thing became even crazier to me.”
Disheartened viewers immediately flocked to social media platforms like X (formerly known as Twitter), Reddit and TikTok to further the discussion of child exploitation in film. They offered their opinions, support for the victims and even conspiracy theories on what other wrongdoings might be left waiting to be uncovered. A conversation surrounding the ethicality of child acting also began to brew in the online world.
“Thinking about it now, a kid surrounded by a bunch of adults and people that have so much power and control over them is really concerning,” Waller said. “If they’re making all this money and gaining all this attention, why would they want to speak up about [abuse] happening and risk losing it all? Their family could be depending on that money or something.”
Another instance that warranted many deep discussions on the exploitation of children was the case of Ruby Franke from the popular YouTube family vlogging channel, 8 Passengers. Franke capitalized on her channel by non-consensually filming personal moments of her children’s lives, using this as a stepping stone to curate her own life-coaching business and to support her passion projects. In 2020, Franke went under fire after people re-watched 8 Passengers and noticed her children were facing signs of early child abuse. Petitions and videos advocating for Child Protective Services (CPS) to step in were made to protect her kids, yet nothing ever changed. In 2022, Franke posted her last 8 Passengers video and ventured onto her new brand, ConneXions, with her business partner and close friend, Jodi Hildebrandt. On Aug. 30, 2023, Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested and later each charged with six counts of aggravated child abuse against Franke’s two youngest children. When the police found her children, they were emaciated, dehydrated and had severe bruises.
“I remember when I was watching one video, [Franke] took away her son’s room and forced him to sleep on a bean bag for months because of a prank he played on his brother. There was also another video where she wouldn’t bring her five-year-old daughter food at school because [Franke] said her daughter was supposed to wake up and make her own food,” Sofia Cruz (9) said. “I definitely started thinking things were off after seeing those videos, but not as bad as they actually were.”
The unveiling of these crimes and abuse has led to more conversations being had around child exploitation. People are beginning to ask questions: What is in place to protect kids now? If some parents are not protecting their kids, but instead using them as pawns in their game to get rich, whose responsibility is it to protect them? Currently, there is no federal law protecting child actors or children featured on family channels from exploitation and abuse. For child actors, the only protection they are afforded concerns their finances. But 2024 seems to be a year of promising change. Governors in both Pennsylvania and California have announced their plans to introduce bills that would regulate online child labor, but there have not been any advancements when it comes to looking after child actors. For now, we can only hope that the industry takes ownership of its mistakes and incorporates changes that make experiences on set safer.
“I respect people who came forward; they were brave in doing that,” Waller said. “I hope they heal from their experiences and I definitely hope that more people come forward.”