KATV Channel 7 - The Spirit of Arkansas: Risky Business

This may come as no surprise to parents who have teenagers.  But, there is now concrete scientific evidence that teenagers are more likely to take risks when their friends are watching.  Temple University researchers recently conducted a study measuring the brain activity in teenagers.  What they found is that teens not only like taking risks, they like it even more when their friends are watching them.  In the Temple University study, researchers found that teenagers are five times more likely to be in a car accident while in a group of kids than when they are driving alone.  Teenagers are also more likely to commit a crime if they are in a group of kids.  In the Temple University study, researchers watched teenagers make decisions in a simulated driving game.  In that game, the teens took greater risks while their friends were watching.  They also found that the regions of the brain associated with reward were highly activated when risky behavior was occurring.  Some neurologists say that leads to a heightened feeling of exhilaration when teenagers behave in a way they know is dangerous.  Experts say one way to help protect our teenagers is to keep them talking to their parents...keep the conversation going.  They also say parents need to get to know their teenagers friends and their friend's parents.