Josh Peck Breaks Silence on 'Quiet on Set' Claims, Drake Bell Abuse Story

Josh Peck is speaking out on all the claims and horror stories chronicled in the documentary about Nickelodeon child actors ... and he says things have gotta change for the better.

The former Nick star broke his silence Thursday over 'Quiet on Set' -- this amid mounting pressure from fans, who were very vocally calling on him to say something as he continued to post things on social media without addressing it.

Josh writes, "I finished the Quiet on Set documentary and took a few days to process it. I reached out to Drake privately, but want to give my support for the survivors who were brave enough to share their stories of emotional and physical abuse on Nickelodeon sets with the world."

He continues, "Children should be protected. Reliving this publicly is incredibly difficult, but I hope it can bring healing for the victims and their families as well as necessary change to our industry."

Josh's post is coming at just the right time ... his name has been trending all week in the wake of the doc airing -- with lots of people wondering if/when he was ever going to speak. Josh obviously wasn't featured in 'QOS,' but he was one of the biggest Nick stars back then.

Of course, his connection to Drake Bell -- with whom he starred on a massive show in "Drake & Josh" -- wasn't lost on anyone ... especially after Drake revealed he was abused as a teen.

The one thing Josh doesn't pinpoint in his statement is whether he ever experienced anything unseemly himself -- or if he was privy to what was going on with Drake at the time -- but based on his words, it seems safe to presume he was probably in the dark about it.

As we reported ... Drake came out Wednesday to defend Josh amid the backlash, notifying the public that his one-time costar had already reached out, and told people to lay off.