A new study by Yale School of Medicine researchers and their
colleagues finds that adolescents commonly take more risks than younger
children and adults because they are more willing to accept risks when
consequences are unknown, rather than because they are attracted to danger, as
often assumed.
Adolescents have the highest rates of sexually transmitted
diseases and criminal behaviors of any age group, and even drive faster than
adults. The death and injury rate of adolescents is 200% greater than for their
younger peers, according to research cited in the study.