10th-12th grade kids rate risky behaviors

If you have high school age children in your house this study might be of interest to you. 5,665 kids were asked to rate the riskiness of behaviors such as drinking, having unruly passengers in their car, using cellphones and text messaging while driving, driving with lack of experience, and speeding. They were also asked how often they witnessed such behavior. They rated lack of experience behind the wheel as midly risky behavior. Hold onto your hats for this one....they overwhelmingly reported that they had rarely seen a teen driver who was inexperienced. The researchers note that teens likely equate "experience" with the mere fact of having acquired a license. Teens feel that talking on a cell phone while driving wasn't all that risky and if you look around you their parents must not think so either. Experts disagree and say that driving while on a cellphone is equivalent to driving under the influence of alcohol in terms of impairment. Teens do see that texting while driving is extremely risky. A carload of teenagers in Rochester, NY died right after the driver's cell phone sent a text message to the car behind her. They ranked racing as just as risky as texting while driving. Ready for another surprise? They rated having adolescent passengers as barely risky but when these passengers start acting "wild", the teenagers realize the situation becomes very risky indeed. I am glad to hear that nearly all the teens recognized that drinking and driving as a very high-risk proposition but alas very few teens reported that they had ever seen any of their peers drink and drive. Yeah right! http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/121/5/e1391