Body Piercing: Is It Really the Cause of High Risk Behavior?

The report titled “Piercing among Adolescents: Body Art as Risk Marker: A Population-based Survey” discusses the believed link between body piercing and risky behavior. An anonymous study conducted by Medicine Faculty in Lausanne found that adolescents between the age of 16 and 20 with a body piercing, an increasingly recent trend, had more of a tendency to partake in risk behavior. These behaviors include multiple sexual partners, illicit drug use, poor academic performance, and suicide attempts, among many others. The survey also connected multiple piercing to a higher percentage of risky behavior.
After reading the results to the survey and comparing them to myself, eighteen year-old with a tongue piercing, I decided that other factors contribute more to risky behavior than a metal bar. The survey also recorded the percentage of adolescents whose parents are separated or divorced; the difference was over 11%. To me, this occurrence seems more likely to cause high-risk behavior, including piercing, instead of the body piercing itself.
The use of scholarly articles is very beneficial when writing a piece of academic literature for many reasons. The abundance of expert information and statistics can act as an excellent resource and provide strength to an argument, ultimately educating and offering insight into a variety of topics.