Miley Cyrus: 'I'm mature for my age'

LOS ANGELES, April 5 (UPI) -- U.S. singer-actress Miley Cyrus says she is more mature than other teenagers her age thanks to her experiences in the entertainment industry.

The 16-year-old star of the Disney Channel series "Hannah Montana" also expressed concern with how she is perceived by the media and the public as she advances in age, The Boston Globe reported Sunday.

"I'm mature for my age, but then again you kind of have to be in this world," Cyrus said. "It's not that you've got to be mature, you've got to be smart, or otherwise people will trample all over you.

"It's scary. All of a sudden you're not 4-foot-9 anymore and you're not, you know, you're wearing heels and, you know, you've got a body and people just definitely take that into a different aspect."

Cyrus's father, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, told the Globe he, too, has concerns about his daughter's fame.

"I worry about it all the time," he said. "Sometimes I think, 'Why couldn't everything just be normal? Why couldn't my kids go to a normal school? And why couldn't Miley just be a cheerleader, just be a teenager?"