Teenage Driving and Peers

According to the New York Times article about teenage driving, Teen drivers tend to take more risks when they are with their friends. They studied this by having a group of teenagers play a driving simulation game. They would have a few games where they play the game as if they are alone. Then they tell the testers that their friends are watching their next games. On the games where people thought other people were watching, the testers were ran yellow lights and crashed into other cars at a much higher rate. These finding show that peer pressure is present even if other children do not directly force a child to do something. I personally believe this is true. Most people our age are overly concerned with what others think. We go out of our way to make ourselves look cool or spectacular. This is our downfall as it leads to stupid decisions. The idea of acceptance truly drives teenagers to the brink of their destruction and sometimes too far...