Often we are asked why teenagers tend to do things that we would consider dangerous to themselves without any fear. At the same time, most rational adults realize the consequences and would not do these same acts themselves. In fact many teenagers tend to not realize how unsafe their acts are such as dangerous skateboard and bicycle jumps, speeding in a car, riding in the back of a pickup truck, and etc. The reason is that the brains of adolescents are different than the brains of adults. As adolescents get older, maturation happens from the back to the front of the brain with the frontal lobe being the last part of the brain to mature. The frontal lobe is the part of the brain that controls judgment and insight. This means that adolescents are wired to be quick learners with limitations on their common sense and sense of danger. Unfortunately it is a lot easier to take risky chances when you are wired to be impulsive and confident.
