Are boomer parents living as recklessly as their teens?

Interesting op-ed piece in today's New York Times adds some perspective on the risky behaviors of teens. It was written in response to recent articles in the media about research showing adolescent brains to be "immature," which sometimes leads to their risky or obnoxious behavior.

In the piece, Mike Males, a researcher and founder of Youthfacts.org, throws it back to boomer parents and their own control problems. Males writes about Americans 35 to 54, noting that more than 18,000 died in 2004 from drug overdoses (an increase of 550 percent since 1975), they (we) have a higher risk for fatal accidents and suicides than people in the 15 to 19 age group, and adding a host of other statistics showing boomers are frequent guests of prisons and emergency rooms.

Males notes: "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."

Comes with a great headline, too: This is your (father's) brain on drugs

If you want to see a version of the story that created the original hubub, check out ScienCentral News.