The point isn't whether or not we did or did not do stupid stunts as adolescents...
..it's whether or not we emulated what we saw someone else do on TV, regardless of the warnings!
So yeah, I'm sure there were a few kids that mimiced "Evel Knievel" stunts and sustained serious injury...back then, media saturation wasn't what it is today.
Remember the guys who got killed trying to do the initiation stunt from "The Program?" The college football movie where the players are lined up and laid down end-to-end on a busy street...it was a matter of time before someone would try that one!
I admit I probably had many "Darwinian" brushes as a lad! My Mom caught me on the roof of our house once, just before I was attempting to parachute down with a bedsheet! :p
You know those "Professional driver. do not attempt!" disclaimers you see on commercials? That stemmed from a successful lawsuit against a major car manufacturer by the distraught parents of a teenager who was killed trying to mimic a dangerous car stunt with the vehicle advertised on the ad...
Ever notice that the female counterparts are rarely reported in this fashion? Must be some correlation between testosterone and lack of brain signals!:p