Are Adolescents Really Risk-Takers? Most Adults Say Yes, but the Science is Starting to Say No

Most adults firmly believe that as kids reach their teens, as they become adolescents, they start to take crazy risks that get them in trouble. And there may be good reason for adults to believe this: although 16 year olds are bigger, stronger, and better educated than 12 year olds (or at least they have gone to 4 more years of school), they get hurt and killed almost twice as often [1]. So why is that? Do they make risky choices that get them in trouble? Consider a few other facts: adolescents get more sexually transmitted diseases than any other age group [2]; they get in trouble with the law more than any other age group; and when they drive cars, they drive faster than any other age group [3]. Most adults firmly believe that as kids reach their teens, they start to take crazy risks that get them in trouble. Motivated to protect teenagers, adults impose age limits on what they consider to be really dangerous activities. But do teenagers simply love taking all risks much more than adults? Our research suggests otherwise. When the risks are vague, adolescents indeed are very optimistic about their odds and much more likely to take risks than adults. However, teenagers who understand the risks associated with a decision are way more conservative in their behavior than people of their parent’s or even grandparent’s age. Our research suggests that adults should probably focus more energy on trying to educate adolescents about risks than on limiting them.