Is Bieber Breaking Down??

It’s been a tough week for Justin Bieber.

He reportedly had a terrible birthday because a London club wouldn’t let Bieber bring his 14-year-old friend, Jaden Smith, in, so he had to celebrate the night at McDonald’s. Olivia Wilde mocked him for not wearing a shirt in public. And finally, his own fans turned on him when he was two hours late for a concert.

Through it all, Bieber has vowed to stay positive, but yesterday, he took to twitter for a 13 tweet long rant:

Some people are calling this a meltdown, but it looks to me more like a temper tantrum.

Here’s the thing about Justin Bieber: he’s had a fairly sheltered life.

I don’t mean that he’s been kept away from sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. I mean, he’s clearly been kept away from criticism.

He was a child prodigy who was encouraged to follow his dreams. His manager discovered him and flew him across continents to record demo tapes when he was 13. He became world famous when he was 15. He was young and cute and talented and popular and there was no reason for him to be harshly criticized by the media. Picking on a tween makes you look like the evil one. But as Bieber puts it, he’s 19 now. He’s a man. He is at an age where he can be held responsible for his words and actions, and from what I gather, that’s a new thing for Bieber.

I’ve heard rumors from multiple sources over the years that Bieber can be kind of a brat to work with. Don’t worry, Beliebers, he’s a nice guy, but he tends to pull pranks on stressed out adults who don’t have time to laugh about being locked out of a control room or enjoy being sassed by a world famous pop star. There’s a New Yorker profile on Scooter Braun, Bieber’s manager, that includes the anecdote that Bieber was jabbing Braun and members of The Wanted in the crotch and was shocked when one of The Wanted members joked about jabbing him right back. Like, it was shocking to Bieber that if he kicked someone in the balls, they had the right to kick him right back.

So, I don’t think Bieber’s Twitter “meltdown” is a psychological meltdown on par with Britney shaving her head. I think it’s just growing pains. Bieber is finally having to realize there are consequences and that there are critics, and adults have to deal with both.

If you ask me, I think the real reason why child stars so often go off the rails is that they are never taught to be normal adults.

If everyone around you is treating you like a special commodity at an early age, there’s less pressure to make sure you have the emotional capability to handle setbacks, disappointments, responsibilities. No one’s teaching you that maybe you’re not special because you’re beautiful, talented or famous, but that you’re special because you work hard and make the people in your life happy.

I hope Bieber does focus on all the good things he has in life. He’s certainly had more blessings than most people. And I hope he does continue to work on his music and grow. But most of all, I hope that he realizes that if he wants the media to look at him like an adult, he has to act like an adult.

And adults deal with setbacks with grace, and not twitter rants.

Image via DigitalSpy