In the spring of 2021, Alyson Stoner shared a video essay to her YouTube channel titled "The Toddler-to-Trainwreck Industrial Complex."
In the 15-minute video, which has already racked up over 1.3 million views as of writing, Stoner discusses her traumatic experience as a child star. Throughout the video she revealed many of the difficult experiences she had growing up in the spotlight, including sexual harassment, developing an eating disorder, and battling child labor law violations. While revealing specific examples of how childhood stardom negatively impacted her life, Stoner also offered potential solutions to the problem.
She called for third-party mental health professionals to be made available on sets. Stoner explained, "They can help monitor working conditions and be available to assist entertainers in regulating, shifting between identities and discharging residual inner turbulence after emotional performances."
Aside from sharing her story and helping to spark a conversation about this tragic reality, Stoner founded the digital wellness platform Movement Genius to help young people improve their mental health (via Bustle). She also founded the non-athletic movement program during the pandemic and is rolling it out to the public in July 2021.
