Expecting Youth to Be Better than Adults

From the  seventh annual Junior Achievement/Deloitte Teen Ethics Survey

..significant numbers of teens do not consider the reactions of specific groups of influencers in their lives when posting content on social networks. Specifically, 40 percent do not consider the potential reactions of college admissions officers, 38 percent do not consider the reactions of present or future employers, and 30 percent do not consider their parents reactions.

...The data have heightened meaning in light of the findings of another Ethics & Workplace Survey, also conducted recently by Deloitte. The survey showed that more than a third of adult respondents also rarely, if ever, consider what their bosses, colleagues or clients would think when they post comments, photos or videos online.

The juxtaposition of these figures, which seem so darn close to each other, intrigues me.  Is this a training issue? Is it a temporary cultural phenomenon as we--of all ages--are participating in new media? Or is there a deeper, cognitive/personality difference that would explain those who don't anticipate the consequences of their online actions, and whose presence is being magnified by our new online lives?