Study: 15% of Teens Expect an Early Death
Research shows a surprising number of kids see life as hopeless
Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 | Updated 8:20 AM CST
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Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris planned and executed the shootings at Columbine High School, in which the ultimately killed themselves.
So much for youthful optimism.
Newly released research indicates that 15% of teens think they'll die young, leading many to drug use, suicide attempts and other unsafe behavior.
The study, based on a survey of more than 20,000 kids, challenges conventional wisdom that says teens engage in risky behavior because they think they're invulnerable to harm. Instead, a sizable number of teens may take chances "because they feel hopeless and figure that not much is at stake," said study author Dr. Iris Borowsky, a researcher at the University of Minnesota.
That behavior threatens to turn their fatalism into a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Borowsky said the magnitude of kids with a negative outlook was eye-opening.
Adolescence is "a time of great opportunity and for such a large minority of youth to feel like they don't have a long life ahead of them was surprising," she said.
The study appears in the July issue of Pediatrics, released Monday.
Posted Thursday, Jul 16, 2009 - 5:17 PM CST
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