Why Teens Do Stupid Things

Science does not support the all-too-common parental notion that when kids doing something stupid that they "acted without thinking." It turns out what when they've done something dumb they've probably mulled over the pros & cons and then simply decided that whatever they were doing was worth the risk.

According to researchers at Cornell and Temple University (and reported in Science Daily), this process is different than adults who intuitively grasp the risks without having to engage in the heavy mental processing.

The findings on how teenagers evaluate risk could mean that traditional campaigns to reduce dangerous activities such as smoking and unprotected sex might do more harm than good. This is because teens often overestimate the risks of these types of activities and educating them might in fact be teaching them the risks are less than what they had believed. Instead of this approach interventions should be focused on categorically avoiding dangerous activities instead of having them weigh the risks in a more rational way.