It seems apparent that we all go through a defiant stage as a child, but is it healthy?
Child development experts have found that being defiant, and refusing to listen is part of how kids learn to assert themselves, and control their environment. It is in fact, a normal part of growing up.
Though it can be exasperating, and even maddening when kids are defiant, they're not behaving that way just to be bad. It's like they need to act that way to figure out how to get along in the world.