"...Why, then, do many pundits and policy makers rush to denigrate
adolescents as brainless? One troubling possibility: youths are being
maligned to draw attention from the reality that it's actually middle-
aged adults - the parents - whose behavior has worsened.
Our most reliable measures show Americans ages 35 to 54 are suffering
ballooning crises:
18,249 deaths from overdoses of illicit drugs in 2004, up 550 percent
per capita since 1975, according to data from the National Center for
Health Statistics.
46,925 fatal accidents and suicides in 2004, leaving today's middle-
agers 30 percent more at risk for such deaths than people aged 15 to
19, according to the national center.
More than four million arrests in 2005, including one million for
violent crimes, 500,000 for drugs and 650,000 for drinking-related
offenses, according to the F.B.I. All told, this represented a 200
percent leap per capita in major index felonies since 1975.
630,000 middle-agers in prison in 2005, up 600 percent since 1977,
according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
21 million binge drinkers (those downing five or more drinks on one
occasion in the previous month), double the number among teenagers and
college students combined, according to the government's National
Household Survey on Drug Use and Health.
370,000 people treated in hospital emergency rooms for abusing illegal
drugs in 2005, with overdose rates for heroin, cocaine,
pharmaceuticals and drugs mixed with alcohol far higher than among
teenagers.
More than half of all new H.I.V./AIDS diagnoses in 2005 were given to
middle-aged Americans, up from less than one-third a decade ago,
according to the Centers for Disease Control.
What experts label "adolescent risk taking" is really baby boomer risk
taking. It's true that 30 years ago, the riskiest age group for
violent death was 15 to 24. But those same boomers continue to suffer
high rates of addiction and other ills throughout middle age, while
later generations of teenagers are better behaved. Today, the age
group most at risk for violent death is 40 to 49, including illegal-
drug death rates five times higher than for teenagers.
Strangely, the experts never mention even more damning new
"discoveries" about the middle-aged brain, like the 2004 study of
scans by Harvard researchers revealing declines in key memory and
learning genes that become significant by age 40. In reality, human
brains are highly adaptive. Both teenagers and adults display a wide
variety of attitudes and behaviors derived from individual conditions
and choices, not harsh biological determinism...."
adolescents as brainless? One troubling possibility: youths are being
maligned to draw attention from the reality that it's actually middle-
aged adults - the parents - whose behavior has worsened.
Our most reliable measures show Americans ages 35 to 54 are suffering
ballooning crises:
18,249 deaths from overdoses of illicit drugs in 2004, up 550 percent
per capita since 1975, according to data from the National Center for
Health Statistics.
46,925 fatal accidents and suicides in 2004, leaving today's middle-
agers 30 percent more at risk for such deaths than people aged 15 to
19, according to the national center.
More than four million arrests in 2005, including one million for
violent crimes, 500,000 for drugs and 650,000 for drinking-related
offenses, according to the F.B.I. All told, this represented a 200
percent leap per capita in major index felonies since 1975.
630,000 middle-agers in prison in 2005, up 600 percent since 1977,
according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
21 million binge drinkers (those downing five or more drinks on one
occasion in the previous month), double the number among teenagers and
college students combined, according to the government's National
Household Survey on Drug Use and Health.
370,000 people treated in hospital emergency rooms for abusing illegal
drugs in 2005, with overdose rates for heroin, cocaine,
pharmaceuticals and drugs mixed with alcohol far higher than among
teenagers.
More than half of all new H.I.V./AIDS diagnoses in 2005 were given to
middle-aged Americans, up from less than one-third a decade ago,
according to the Centers for Disease Control.
What experts label "adolescent risk taking" is really baby boomer risk
taking. It's true that 30 years ago, the riskiest age group for
violent death was 15 to 24. But those same boomers continue to suffer
high rates of addiction and other ills throughout middle age, while
later generations of teenagers are better behaved. Today, the age
group most at risk for violent death is 40 to 49, including illegal-
drug death rates five times higher than for teenagers.
Strangely, the experts never mention even more damning new
"discoveries" about the middle-aged brain, like the 2004 study of
scans by Harvard researchers revealing declines in key memory and
learning genes that become significant by age 40. In reality, human
brains are highly adaptive. Both teenagers and adults display a wide
variety of attitudes and behaviors derived from individual conditions
and choices, not harsh biological determinism...."
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