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The truth about teenagersIn 2017, a group of Oregon teenagers were in a forest near their home. One of the boys wanted to have some fun. He lit some fireworks and threw them into dry grass. The grass caught fire. His friends laughed, so the boy did it again. A woman was walking near them, and she saw the fire. The adult tried to stop the teens, but it was too late. A fire was burning, and it spread for 15 miles. The Eagle Creek fire destroyed an important tourist area in the state, and it caused millions of dollars in damage.When people hear about this story, they often focus on the boy’s age. He was 15 at the time, and he was with a group of kids the same age. They knew it was dangerous to play with fireworks in the middle of a hot dry summer, but they did it anyway. Why? Is there something wrong with the teenagers and the way they think?Law makers and insurance companies seem to think the answer is yes. Statistics support this finding. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash. For teens in fatal crashes, 37% were speeding and 26% had been drinking. As a result, there are special laws for teens. In most states, it is illegal for a teen to drive with more than one under-21 passenger in the car. Also, insurance rates for teens, especially boys, are far higher than for older adults. Psychologists who study teenagers agree that teens task more risks than adults, and they have different explanations for teen behavior. However, they worry about the negative feelings that many people have when they hear about teens starting fires or causing accidents. As a result, they want to understand why.One explanation for teen behavior is brain development. This theory states that the teenage brain is physically changing. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, when children reach a certain age, some parts of the brain develop more slowly than others. The frontal cortex is the area of the brain that controls reasoning. It helps people think before they act, and it develops later than other areas of the brain. In other words, teenagers are not able to make responsible decisions because of biological processes.Such a finding suggests that there is not much that adults can do. Parents just need to wait for the brain to continue growing and hope that their children survive. Society needs to make sure there are laws that limit the potential for accidents. Eventually, the prefrontal cortex will catch up, and the teen will become a responsible adult.Now some psychologists are adding new information to this view of teens. Dan Romer is one of them. Romer is the Research Director at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. He believes that the story of teen behavior is more complicated. After looking a much research, Romer believes that while biology plays an important role, we need to look at why humans go through this process when they reach a certain age. Romer says that teens need new experiences in order to prepare for their adult responsibilities. When they explore the world and gain experience, they find out who they are. They find out what they are good at. They learn who they want to socialize with. Sometimes this requires them to move out of their comfort zone. For example, a teen might take a social risk to gain the experience of seeing what will happen. Today, much of this takes place on social media where people post, comment and share. In this instance, a teen might try out different roles. A girl might post a picture of herself with blue hair and a lot of black make up to see the effect. She can get important questions answered, such as Is there social power in looking unusual? Her social media friends can also learn from the effects of their responses: Is it better for me to be kind or critical? In both examples the teens get answers to the questions, How do I influence people? What kind of friends do I want? There are also physical risks. Teens may try out for a sports team or go rock climbing. A boy might jump off a bridge into a river. In this way, he compares himself to others. Is he stronger or braver? How does it feel to do something dangerous? Is this something I want to do again? Could I be suited for a job as a soldier or firefighter? If he gets in trouble he learns answers to the questions, How do I feel about breaking rules? Does it bother me when I make people angry? In this way, he learns information that can help him find his place in society.Romer understands the concern of adults. There are many cases of extreme behavior that cause emotional or physical harm. People hear about the behavior of the teens who started the fire, and they may assume that other teens are likely to make similarly poor choices. In fact, a percentage of teens does have difficult controlling themselves. This group is more likely to take drugs, drive fast, or skip school. They have something called poor impulse control. This means that they do not stop and think through an action. They just do it.However, Romer’s research suggests that most teens behave more responsibly than people think. When they know the bad consequences of an action, they avoid it. Psychologists have done experiments that measure teen behavior when it is clear that there are negative consequences. For example, when teens know that skipping an assignment is likely to cause problems for them in the future, they are more likely to do the assignment. Adults are a little bit more likely to do the assignment, but not a lot more.Romer wants people to understand that teens are learning. They need experience to make decisions and face challenges later in life. Many of these experiences are the result of mistakes, but they are not bad mistakes, just lessons that young people need to learn. After all, adults make decisions based on past experience, and this is called wisdom.DiscussionAre teenagers viewed fairly or unfairly in your opinion? Do you think people should change their ideas of teens? ................
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