Amanda vs. Lindsay. Eonline.

Amanda Bynes has been getting lots of attention these past couple of weeks –but for all the wrong reasons. We all know Amanda as the sweet, little Nickelodeon star who made us laugh until we couldn’t breathe — I watched “The Amanda Show” religiously and died every time because it was so funny. Unfortunately, we no longer have that same little girl on our hands. What we have is a child star all grown up  and I can’t really say I’m surprised by Amanda’s actions. Let’s take this time to go over what she’s done, shall we?

In April she was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence after she allegedly struck an officer’s vehicle, two counts of hit-and-run and a suspended license. The most recent buzz of AB is a photo of her lighting up a pipe in her car. What was in the pipe is unknown but let’s be honest, I know we’re all thinking the same thing.

So what’s the deal with Amanda Bynes acting out like this?  Well for starters, she retired from the industry two years ago claiming she didn’t love acting anymore. The girls only been in four major motion films in the past nine years, her most recent being “Easy A” in 2010. Clearly she has a lot of time on her hands so what better way to spend it than getting in trouble with the law? I’m not condoning her actions by any means, I think what she’s doing is definitely hurting her image and making her less desirable as a person. But did you really expect anything less? She’s been in the business since she was seven years old and now she is 26. I know what you’re probably thinking, doing the same thing for nineteen years is nothing. People work the same job for thirty years and are fine. But what you need to understand is those people aren’t starting their career before they can even tell time. And even though Amanda hasn’t done much work recently as an adult, as a child it consumed her life. She starred in the Nickelodeon series “All That” which aired for almost ten years ending in 2002. While doing “All That” she also had her own show called “The Amanda Show.” In 2002 she starred in the WB Television series “What I like About You” that lasted until 2006. So as you can see Amanda did a ton of over-lapping work. That would be stressful on anyone, especially a young girl. At this point she’s burnt out and probably not too concerned about her image. Hey, it happens.

Amanda Bynes isn’t the only child star to burn out and do naughty things. Let’s not forget about our friend Lindsay Lohan. LiLoh’s been arrested multiple times for DUI, been thrown in the slammer on numerous occasions as well as attend rehab for drug abuse. Lindsay recently spoke out on twitter expressing how it’s not fair that Amanda isn’t getting any punishment when she got put in jail.I’m a little confused by that as well, but I’m no judge.

One thing that Amanda does not have on her record (yet) is drug abuse. I’ll never understand why people use hard drugs, but then again I’ve never been a child star so I’ll never understand that either. It just blows my mind how many of them actually resort to drugs to escape their problems. “Full House” star Jodie Sweetin admitted to using cocaine, ecstasy and meth. She’s also been caught driving drunk with her daughter in the back seat. Can I just say, “How rude!”

Jodie’s “Full House” sister(s) the Olson twins have made a bad name for themselves as well (must be something about that show). Mary-Kate checked into rehab after suffering anorexia and rumored drug problems while Ashley has been seen stumbling out of night clubs in rare form.

Now, it’s none of my business to place judgement on these people. What they want to do with their own lives is their prerogative. All I’m saying is don’t fall into the stereotype of “burnt-out-child-star”. Don’t give people the chance to say, “I’m not surprised.” Yes, there are many stars who have fallen into this category but there are a lot who have managed to stay out of it. I gotta give mad props to Hilary Duff because she’s managed to stay clean, marry a sexy hockey player and start a family. You go girl!