Sometimes having a teenager at home can be a real headache. Many teenagers smoke, drink, wear strange hairdos and even fight. Basically, they are often taking risks. Earlier studies have shown that teenagers are more likely to make _ decisions than people from any other age group, including children and adults. Is it that teenagers are too young to tell right from wrong? Not really. So what explains their risky behavior? According to Laurence Steinberg, a professor at Temple University, US, the reason is that teens care a lot about how their peers   view them - that's the effect of "peer influence", reported Science Daily. As children enter their teenage years, they spend more time with their friends and classmates and also become more sensitive to their feedback  . This sensitivity drives teenagers to concentrate on the short-term benefits of making risky choices and overlook the costs. In a test, a group of teenagers were asked to play a video driving game. When they played with their friends watching, they took more chances and drove more carelessly because that would increase their possibility of winning. But when they played alone, they tended to drive more safely. Why does pressure from peers have such a big influence on teens' behavior? As Steinberg sees it, a teenager's brain is like a car with a good accelerator   but a weak brake  . The "accelerator", the brain's ability to notice the benefits of things, is fully developed by teenage years while the "brake", the brain part related to controlling impulses   and long-term thinking, is still immature . When teens are under the pressure of being judged by their peers, they tend to push hard on the accelerator. Given how weak the brake is, it is likely that they are going to end up in a crash. But the good news here, according to Steinberg, is that a violent teenager doesn't necessarily become a violent adult. About two-thirds to three-quarters of violent youth grow out of it. "They get more self-controlled," Steinberg told Live Science. Also, people who haven't committed a violent crime by age 19 are less likely to start doing it later, added Steinberg. Why are teenagers likely to take risks according to the text?
They are too young to tell right from wrong. They are eager to challenge themselves. They care a lot about what their peers think of them. Their brains are more sensitive to thrilling events.