My experience teaching high school kids was just the opposite. Quite a few will stay with a problem long after most so-called "prudent" adults have moved on.

As adults, we forget that 17 year olds are still living their lives in a world of what they don't know, not in what they know. And once they do know they can be very insistent about being right. Because, it's all they know.

It's also how a team of 16-17 yr olds can somehow manage to win when the odds are completely against them. All they know is what they want to see happen. And they will keep trying until they succeed, the clock runs out, or the other team makes it painfully obvious by completely routing them.