(Image source: Freedom's Phoenix)

BY EVAN BUSH

Remember, when you were young and stupid? Did you get arrested? Well, if you did, you’re not alone -- a new study says young Americans are no strangers to police run-ins. KIRO has the statistics...

“Nearly a third of Americans have a police record by the time they're 23 years old. That is according to a study in the late issue of Journal Pediatrics. Researchers found just more than 30 percent of 23-year-olds say they have been arrested. That is higher than the 22 percent from a study in 1965. Analysts used a national sample of adolescents and young adults collected between 1997 and 2008.”

And WXYZ reports... these police records aren’t your run-of-the-mill traffic ticket either.

“The study which was conducted over 11 years asked young adults between 8 and 23 whether they had ever been arrested by police, it included underage drinking, truancy and murder.”

And researchers say that arrest percentage could be as high as 41 percent -- but TIME reports these numbers don’t necessarily mean it’s time to hole up in your house for fear of rowdy youths.

“Although it may seem shocking ... those who study juvenile crime don’t find the figure to be out of line. Since the 1970s, America has become much tougher on crime, lengthening sentences, increasing the police force and quintupling the number of people incarcerated.”

And USA Today adds -- arrest doesn’t necessarily mean charges, nor does it mean conviction. But Reuters reports it’s particularly important to keep young adults out of trouble -- because most ‘repeat offenders’ begin their string of crime at a young age.

And researchers have a message for doctors. WOAI has the details.

“Most of those arrests happen during late adolescence. Experts say abuse in the home, poor performance in school and hyperactivity could increase the risk of delinquency and that doctors should intervene when they see these tendencies during childhood.”

And despite a higher percentage of young people getting the pinch -- experts say it might be more damaging to have that blemish on your record. USA Today interviewed a professor who studies juvenile delinquency. Here’s what she said.

“The high rate of arrest among youth is troubling because the records will follow them as adults and make it harder for them to get student loans, jobs and housing, says [an associate professor at University at Albany-SUNY]. … Arrest records ‘follow you forever. The average teenager who steals an iPod or is arrested for possession of marijuana — why do we make that define their lives?’”