During your youth you are more susceptible to making impulsive decisions for numerous reasons. Throughout one's childhood, there are many things that can shape the way you perceive things and how you might respond to them. Impulsivity has the ability to alter your decision making without taking the time to reflect on the rationality of the choice you made. As seen in Romeo and Juliet, there are quite a few instances where Romeo and Juliet seem to be impulsive. A possible explanation for this is the impulsivity within teens and adolescents. Ultimately, people who are younger tend to make more impulsive decisions because of the fact that their brain isn’t fully developed, the effect of peer pressure, or the mental health issues that some kids …show more content…
A baby's brain starts out with at least 100 billion neurons. By age three, your brain has approximately one quadrillion connections called "synapses"--many more than you need.” (Dowling). This shows how your brain needs time to fully develop which can contribute to your overall decision making. In Romeo and Juliet, we are shown how sixteen year old Romeo makes most of his decisions solely based upon his heart and how he is quick to act without thinking about the consequences they may bring.(Shakespeare) It is said that by the age of 12 your brain has reached it's full “physical” maturity, yet as you experience new things out there in the world your brain connections continue to change and rewire themselves up into your twenties. (Dowling). Even though your brain is technically full grown, it is not fully matured and hasn’t seen everything the world has to offer. A study was done to see how …show more content…
Peer pressure is dangerous in a sense that it can lead you to misfortune and conflict just by making one quick choice. Throughout the course of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is put into certain situations where he does things that aren’t within his nature because of peer pressure. For instance, whenever Romeo’s friends encourage him to get into some trouble or join them on doing something that is dangerous or might cause conflict, Romeo is hesitant because the things they do don’t represent who Romeo really is. “Teenagers are vulnerable to peer pressure that is either overt or subtle. Their vulnerability stems from trying to determine their place in life and their immediate surroundings.” (Kowalski). With that comes teens trying to fit in and do things to make themselves feel accepted when in reality it would only guide them to making poor choices in the heat of the moment. Kids are trying to fit in all the time and they believe by doing things that their friends do, makes them cool or a part of the gang. Miachael Farrell explains, “The best predictor of a kid using drugs and alcohol is what his or her friends do. The people selling drugs for the billion-dollar drug industry aren't TV stereotypes. They're your classmates, and the people using and modeling drug use are your classmates. This “in-your-face" factor produces a constant pressure that teens