Bad behavior
Although teens' brains are superior in some ways, they're distinctly immature in one key area. The last part of the brain to fully connect up - well past the teenage years - is the frontal lobe, which houses judgment, insight, dampening of emotions and impulse control. Since it isn't fully developed, there's a cognitive chasm between coming up with an idea and being able to decide if it's actually a good one. "This begins to explain why these smart little whippersnappers are so incredibly risk-taking and irrational," says Jensen. "These are people with very sharp brains, but they're not quite sure what to do with them."

Interestingly, the faculty of insight - the ability to judge one's own actions and predict consequences - develops in the frontal lobe in stages: First as the ability to be objective and judge others' actions and later as subjective analysis and to be able to consistently think, 'If I do this, something bad might happen.' "It's fascinating that teens can see their friend about to do the wrong thing and say, 'Don't do that!,' whereas they can't yet recognize their own behavior as dangerous," says Jensen. "They really can and should act as each others' keepers."

Folks have to understand how redneck most of Canada is...