by Jimmy Ettele

Created on: December 19, 2008

There is an epidemic surging throughout kids ages 13-19. Nationwide, quite possibly even worldwide, the affliction of defiance is crippling our teenagers across the globe. What could be the cause? Why would our teenagers be hit so hard with this defiance? Quite possibly we could be looking at a true medical condition. We could be ignoring sure signs of some type of adolescent mental disorder? Then again, if we all take a step back, close our eyes, and take a deep breath, at the tail end of our exhale and as our eyes open, maybe we will see a different picture of what is the cause of defiance in teens?

Even now, Merck and Pfizer are scrambling their respective teams together attempting, at the expense of many a lab rat, to develop a pill that will cure defiance in teens. At the risk of nausea, dizziness, shortness of breath, vomiting, liver failure, constipation, and potential death in minor cases, our pharmaceutical monopolies are on the case for parents around the world. And though these pill companies shirk in the face of potentially death inducing side effects from their drugs, we can not even place blame on the pharmaceutical companies. Our twenty four hour a day news cycles, Wolf Blitzer chatting with a hologram, political pushes for pharmaceutical needs, and blogs have this country and it's citizenry completely neurotic and over reacting to any news they stream on their Blackberries. Two years ago Bird Flu was on the precipice of effects not seen since the Black Plague. Before that West Nile Virus threatened all of humanity. Seven year olds who can't sit still in their chairs are labeled ADD and given a prescription for Ritalin. If you're older than seven then you get an extra letter ascribed to your condition, you get to be ADHD. Congratulations. You're tired three or four days out of the week, you must have sleepapnia. You've surpassed the age of retirement and have nothing to do at home, you're given a blue pill and your wife is alerted. This country has halted allowance for nature to move forward with it's plans with heavy dosages of doctor's scripts.

Defiance in teenagers does not spring from a well of mental disorders. Defiance in teenagers springs from the angst all teenagers feel or have felt throughout those tumultuous years between thirteen and nineteen. Teenagers are defiant because along with the extra hair, their vocal changes, and intensifying odor, teenage angst is apart of growing up. Teens are discovering who they are going to be. Confined

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