Alison Arngrim was 48 years previous when she publicly revealed she was sexually abused by a member of the family beginning at age 6.
It was 2004 when the actress, who performed imply woman Nellie Oleson in “Little House on the Prairie,” first advised her story to Larry King.
She described how showing within the hit TV sequence saved her sanity in her 2011 memoir “Confessions of a Prairie Bitch.”
The star has turn into an advocate for little one intercourse abuse victims, however her work is much from accomplished, she insisted.
Arngrim is the president of the Nationwide Affiliation to Shield Youngsters, a nonprofit that goals to provide youngsters a authorized and political voice in “the war against child abuse.”
Arngrim desires to fight predators who search locations the place youngsters could be discovered unsupervised.
Locations like Hollywood proceed to be a scorching spot, she mentioned.
“Hollywood still has a sex abuse problem,” Arngrim advised Fox Information Digital. “Whenever you have an environment where there are lots of children … there’s going to be predators. There’s going to be someone who wants a job where they have unfettered access to young children all day. And the more that job involves completely unsupervised access to children, the more attractive that job is going to be.”
“We have lots of people who have sacrificed their whole lives to help children,” Arngrim shared. “But, sadly, there are others who aren’t that way.”
In keeping with the group’s web site, it has labored in Congress and in over 27 states to craft laws that results in stronger, harder legal guidelines that fight little one exploitation.
“There’s a lot to do,” mentioned Arngrim. “All of us assume if somebody will get arrested for little one molestation, sexual abuse, they may go to jail, and they are going to be on a intercourse offender’s checklist. However that’s not all the time the case. There are circumstances the place they’re let go, which is bonkers.
“We are looking for those loopholes in many states to help protect children. … If you’re in a state that doesn’t have specific rules and laws on set, especially for working children [in the entertainment industry], that’s a problem. And we need to address it.”
Arngrim admitted that, for years, she saved her childhood abuse a secret out of disgrace. Getting the possibility to lastly inform her story was releasing.
“The focus and shame are often put on the victim,” mentioned Arngrim. “But shouldn’t it be on the person who did this?… When the Larry King episode aired, I felt like a weight was off my shoulders.”
For Arngrim, ache was function.
“There are laws that say a child can only work so many hours at a store, but those same laws don’t always apply to a child on a film or TV set,” she mentioned. “They’re exempt. Laws were created in California where you have massive regulations, but some unscrupulous producers will shoot shows in other parts of the country so that they do not have to follow any of those regulations.”
Arngrim famous that, as a baby actress, she felt protected on the set of “Little House on the Prairie,” which aired from 1974 to 1983.
“We had major regulations and, thank God, we followed them to the letter,” she defined. “And [director] Michael Landon began working [in Hollywood] when he was actually younger. And look, he was hardly Pa Ingalls. He smoked and drank. He knew what the world exterior ‘Little House’ could possibly be. [But] it was vital for him to create a protected area for his crew.
“He came from ‘Bonanza,’ and many of the crew members came from the show too, so he had already known them for years, long before he started ‘Little House,’” Arngrim shared. “And lots of of them adopted him to ‘Highway to Heaven.’ Most of the extras, the youngsters you noticed within the schoolrooms, have been youngsters of the crew members, the electricians. Everybody was on set.
“He also prioritized school,” Arngrim continued. “He made sure our teachers were there with a stopwatch to make sure we didn’t miss out on class. He made sure we always had lunch. I even remember when Michael’s kids would be on set. The rule was they could only be on the set during their summer breaks if their grades were at the proper level and their schoolwork was done well. Otherwise, they had to go to summer school. They couldn’t just hang out on the set.”
Her castmates weren’t exempt. They have been additionally required to have good grades.
“Nothing got past Michael,” Arngrim chuckled. “He wanted to do things by the book. He also wanted everybody to go home at a reasonable time so they could spend time with their families. And with having such a huge kids cast, I’m sure he was relieved too. But I remember we would be done by 5, and everyone was out the door. Sure, you could spend another hour or two shooting a few scenes, especially the adults. But Michael made sure we were on our way home by 6 for dinner. And it worked.”
Landon died in 1991 at age 54 from pancreatic most cancers.
“I felt very safe on the ‘Little House’ set,” Arngrim mirrored. “I felt that if we ever went to any one of many crew members and mentioned, ‘This person is bothering me,’ we wouldn’t discover the physique for weeks. It was simply a very protecting set. It was a wonderful ambiance. Michael wished this present to thrive. And if the youngsters weren’t taken care of, and we weren’t following the principles, we wouldn’t have a present.
“Not mistreating your children is the more profitable move.”
Right now, Arngrim hopes mother and father keen to place their children in showbiz will search for telltale indicators of hassle.
“There’s always going to be a predatory problem, especially in Hollywood, because it’s so easy,” she mentioned. “Have a look at what number of mother and father are so determined to see their children turn into well-known. … Folks can get loopy with [the idea of fame].
“In the event that they meet somebody who says they’re a supervisor, an agent, a photographer or expertise scout, and so they need to be alone along with your child, or they need to take your child to a unique location for an audition or no matter … they’ll simply see this promise of fame. And issues will occur. It occurs on a regular basis.
“That’s a problem. Parents will drop their kids off at a guy’s house, no questions asked, because they’ll say, ‘Well, this person said my child will be on TV,’” she added. “In the meantime, the predator is pondering, ‘I’ve hit the jackpot.’
“That’s why they’re predators. They look for the weak spots. They look for the kid from the broken home, the kid having trouble in school, the kid whose parents are maybe working two to three jobs and maybe aren’t paying attention. … We need to be vigilant in this business. … It’s gotten better since my day, but there’s more to be done.”
