You remember how fun it was to be a cool kid in high school? Well, researchers at the University of Virginia have found that the so called cool kids in high school have a higher tendency to be losers later in adult life.
The researchers found that teens who ‘acted cool’ at school were far more likely to struggle as an adult, and were at higher risk of alcohol and drugs, and more likely to have taken part in criminal activities.
Teens who were romantically involved at an early age, engaged in delinquent activity, and placed a premium on hanging out with physically attractive peers were thought to be popular by their peers at age 13.
The researchers studied 184 teens from age 13, when they were in seventh and eighth grades, to age 23, collecting information from the teens themselves as well as from their peers and parents.
They attended public schools in suburban and urban areas in the southeastern United States and were from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds.
The researchers found that those teens seeking popularity and attention by trying to act older than their age may have detrimental effect later on in life. They are more likely to have had significant problems with alcohol and drugs, and to have engaged in criminal activities, the study claims.
At 22, the once cool and popular teens were rated by their peers as being less competent in managing social relationships.
So if you have that cool adolescent kid trying to be popular by all means, you need to show him/her this study. Life definitely doesn’t end in high school.
Phil