Teenagers Are Hard Wired For Risky Behavior Summary

The theme of the article “Teens are Hardwired for Risky Behavior” was that the efforts of teaching teens about the dangers of unprotected sex, drug, alcohol use, smoking, etc. don’t work. They can teach kids all they want about the dangers and try to scare them but the reality is that in the spur of the moment most teens will be likely to give into peer pressure. Most of the time, teens wouldn’t do risky business if they were alone. When a teen is doing risky business it’s usually because there are a lot of people there. The part of the brain that is in charge of decision-making doesn’t fully mature until adulthood. This explains why teens are so easy to be convinced by peers. When someone is in the moment its hard to make wise decisions so it is always a good idea to have your mind set on what type of person you want to be and what you want to do.
At my age I have experienced times where I have been peer pressured to do stuff. I’m not saying that teens don’t have a say in what they do but it’s hard to think clearly when a bunch of peers are pushing you to do something. You can lecture teens all you want about how to stay on the right path but there is no way to ensure that when put on the spotlight that they will think critically and do what is right. It is not the government’s job to put more regulations. It is the parent’s job to pay attention to the behavior of their child and choose whether or not they are responsible enough to handle having a license, going to parties, etc. It is important for teens to be responsible, mature, and have an idea of who they want to be before they put themselves in situation where their well being is