"Quiet on the Set" is raising quite a ruckus. The four-part documentary goes behind the scenes of Nickelodeon's popular turn-of-the-millennium shows to depict a "volatile, dysfunctional and sometimes sexualized environment" for child actors, said The Washington Post. "There's a dark underbelly to child stardom," said Bryan Hearne, who was an actor on "All That."

The documentary focuses on Dan Schneider, the "golden boy" creator of many Nickelodeon shows who left under a cloud of scandal in 2018. Interviewees "recounted tales of alleged racism, sexism, harassment and verbal abuse at his hands," USA Today said. Schneider expressed remorse in an interview posted to his YouTube page. "I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology," he said. 

"Apologies aren't enough," said The Guardian. The actors traumatized by their time on Nickelodeon shows are "seeking change and accountability in an industry that turned a blind eye to predatory behavior." Will the shocking revelations produce change? 

The latest
"More protections are now in place" since Schneider's ouster, The Wrap said, but industry experts say "there's still more to be done." Background checks are now mandatory, and parents or guardians must be in sight of child actors at all times. However, too many people fear being blackballed by the industry. 

One former star — Drake Bell, of "Drake & Josh" — was sexually abused by a dialogue coach. Nickelodeon said it is committed to "fostering a safe and professional workplace environment." But the response feels "pretty empty," because "they still show our shows," Bell said during a podcast interview. "And I have to pay for my own therapy."

The reaction
Nickelodeon's "nebulous" response to the documentary does "little to assure audiences that there's been any notable transformation" in working conditions for child actors, Lorraine Ali said at the Los Angeles Times. The "weak-sauce defenses" demonstrate that the "hushing effect of power and the quiet acceptance of predatory behavior is still an evergreen in Hollywood."
 
"The current safeguards for child safety and well-being in the studio environment are clearly insufficient," Kelly Lawler said at USA Today. The former child actors in the documentary "urge more regulation, tougher laws and other safeguards." But many say they would never let their own children act. Profits, after all, too often come before safety in Hollywood. "Will the documentary change anything? It's hard to be optimistic."

You can be a scientist! Or at least you can play a crucial part in up-and-coming scientific research. Because citizen science is becoming increasingly accepted by researchers as a way to gather data. 

What is citizen science?
Citizen science is a "field of research in which members of the general public participate in scientific projects, often in collaboration with professional scientists," Three O'Clock said. Citizen science has become an "increasingly acknowledged approach applied in many scientific domains" and particularly within the environmental and ecological sciences," said a 2022 study published in the journal Nature Reviews Methods Primers. Researchers often create citizen science groups to aid in monitoring and data collection without requiring extra funding. For example, bird-watchers can be considered citizen scientists as they help track species and add to existing databases. 

Benefits
The largest benefit is the power in numbers. "Data collection isn't just for researchers," said Popular Science. Climate and environmental science can particularly benefit from citizen science. 

"For issues that affect huge swathes of areas like pollution or radiation, which can only be properly measured at scale, that kind of mass data collection can be vital," said Wired. "Publicly available data gathered by citizens removes the chance of any middleman who may be unable, because of underfunding or political crisis, to gather enough data." Pieter Franken, the co-founder of the nonprofit Safecast dedicated to citizen science, said to Wired, "Citizen science doesn't just let people collect data, it empowers them and gives them a voice."

Drawbacks
Critics of citizen science argue that "untrained citizens could collect shoddy or even biased data that won't have scientific rigor or reliability," Wired said. "Designing and implementing citizen science projects require a unique set of skills and knowledge outside the research itself," the Nature Reviews Methods Primers study said. Without proper oversight and organization, the data collected may not be reliable.

Citizen science could also highlight societal inequality. "Citizen science may engage only certain parts of society, which may potentially fail to include historically underrepresented groups," said the study. "This raises concerns about the relevance of citizen science to diverse communities."