Miley Cyrus is showing off too much skin in pictures and making viral YouTube videos. Disney darling Vanessa Hudgens weathered scandal for sending pics to another young star. Lindsay Lohan fell so far from grace so fast we still can’t find her career, and let’s not even start talking about the deterioration of Britney Spears.

What’s wrong with young Hollywood?

Many of them appear on the scene as cute kids, all smiles and freckles and age-appropriate movie roles. But as the years pass and adolescence sets in, they’re suddenly seen in clubs, car crashes and mug shots - even before they can legally vote in some cases. When kids who aren’t famous get into trouble, it’s easy to say it’s the fault of the parents or that society puts too much pressure on them - maybe it’s some flaw in the educational system. When kids who are in the spotlight get into trouble, it’s media fodder.

And it’s almost guaranteed to make the spotlight shine on them just a little bit brighter.

When Paris Hilton (26 at the time) went to jail, it gained national media attention. For days, this was the only news story that anybody cared about. Amy Winehouse (24) has been in the news more for wild behavior than any singing she’s ever done, and in fact she already suffers from emphysema despite her young age. At 15, singer/actress Miley Cyrus has already enjoyed well-publicized relationships and more than her fair share of scandal - and it‘s only made her even more popular with the press. The phrase 13 Going on 30 isn’t just a movie - it seems to be the personal mantra of every young starlet the industry produces.

What causes them to act out, to act older, to act like anything but the young girls they are? In a way, it’s a little bit my fault and a little bit your fault, too. When Miley Cyrus sheds clothing and poses, we print her name everywhere and gobble up all the stories of her latest transgression. Matter of fact, I barely knew who Cyrus was until the press started to turn negative, and I know exactly what Amy Winehouse looks like though I’ve never heard her sing a lick.

A good story and a good girl might be interesting (young actress Anne Hathaway, for example, has been in several flicks but received far more attention from the press for her ill-fated relationship than any of these glittering screen roles), but the story of a bad girl is far more compelling. True, these stars make their own choices - but how much of their behavior is tied to the plain and simple fact that these attention-getting tactics work extremely well? The truth is, we love it when they act out - it gives us all something to talk about.

What’s wrong with young Hollywood? We are…or at least, we don’t do anything to show that their antics are unacceptable.