The Adolescent Paradox Adolescents are stronger than they will ever be again in their lives. Theirimmune response is at its peak. They tolerate extremes of heat and coldbetter than those older and younger. They heal from physical injury more quickly. But their likelihood of getting sick increases greatly andtheir death rates rise enormously during the teen years, particularlyfor males. Whereas the mortality rate of girls triples between the ages of twelve and nineteen, for boys that rate increases more than six timesduring these same years. Beginning at age twelve, in fact, the death rate in boys increases at a rate of more than 30 percent per year, while the rate for females increases nearly 20 percent per year. And death rates continue to grow still higher as our teens reach their early twenties. This paradox of having greater physical ability yet greater vulnerability occurs because of the behaviors, emotions, and patterns of thinking in which adolescents and young adults engage. There is no disputing that adolescents take outlandish risks. In theUnited States, accidents, suicide, and homicide are responsible for over 85 percent of the deaths among those aged fifteen to twenty-four. Suicideis the second leading cause and alone accounts for 20 percent of deaths in this age range, more than cancer, heart disease, congenital anomalies, stroke, flu and pneumonia, HIV, and chronic respiratory disease combined. And what about crime? After the age of thirty, people rarely commit serious crimes. Violent crimes are predominantly committed by young people, and adults who violate the law were almost always teens who violated the law. As our population of young people grows, like after a baby boom, so does the amount of crime. As a public health educator, then medical student and resident in psychiatry, I was taught that adolescents engage in high-risk behavior because they believe they're invincible. Why else would they get into so many motor vehicle accidents, have so many unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, and use alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes? Invincibility sure seems like a highly plausible theory. But as we now know, invincibility just doesn't hold up under scrutiny. Despite our efforts at educating youth about the risks they face, explaining to them time and again that they are, in fact, vulnerable, we've seen minimal to no change in the rates of binge drinking and drunk driving, condom use, obesity, bicycle and motorcycle helmet use, bullying, and so forth among teens over the past two decades. In fact, we've seen an increase in suicide and marijuana use; and although cigarette use is down slightly--likely due to the price of cigarettes, which has increased at twice the rate of inflation--e‑cigarette use has more than quadrupled in the past four years. What other factors besides invincibility might be at play? Maybe adolescents are irrational and lack good decision-making capacity or they seek strong emotions and new sensations. Maybe at times. But we now know that the causes of risky behavior go far beyond that. Adolescents are engineered for risk-taking behavior, and everything from their brains to their hormones to their peer relationships works to encourage and maintain a high-risk approach to just about everything. Shakespeare had it right. Teens and young adults get into a whole lot of mischief and engage in some pretty risky behaviors. Curiously, they even think that the chance of getting hurt from these behaviors is higher than it really is. So why would they put themselves in harm's way by taking dangerous risks like having unprotected sex if they believe that the chances of "getting wenches with child" or HIV transmission are so high? They clearly don't think they're invincible, as repeated experiments have shown. Something else must be going on. This book is about that something else. What lies within the pages that follow will challenge everything you think you know about why tweens, teens, and young adults make decisions every day that result in pregnancy, addiction, accidental injury, and death. The factors that matter are hidden deep within our brains and evolutionary history and are strongly influenced by our peer relationships and life experiences.The science is there, and this book is your escort. Once you understand what influences adolescents to make risky decisions, you will know why much of what we do to try to protect kids isn't working. You'll also have a much better idea of what we should be doing to help keep them safe. Excerpted from Born to Be Wild: Why Teens and Tweens Take Risks, and How We Can Help Keep Them Safe by Jess Shatkin All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
