Adolescent Insolence

I spent 7th grade today going through the rubrics for 2 upcoming assignments. It was a bit tedious (as I expected) and I'm not sure why I didn't stop. I suppose I trudged my way through for the half dozen kids who want to do well on the assignments, because it was in my plans, and beause we have a long break coming up and I didn't feel there was much point in starting anything new. I have 2 classes of 7th graders. Last year both classes had some students who made the classes a rather difficult mix of immaturity, lack of motivation, and unbridled peer group concerns. This year one class is delightful and the other - well, they are in some cases just a year older.
During the "just a year older" group I called on one student who seemed to not be paying attention to repeat what I said. He is clever and repeated close to word for word what I said. I then said something else and he decided to repeat that also to the delight of some of his classmates. I stood silent for a couple of seconds as the class looked expectantly at me to see what would happen next. I then went on with the lesson as if nothing had happened.
Before writing this I searched for some clue to the causes of adolescent insolence. I didn't spend a whole lot of time in the search, but what was popping-up were entertainment sites which praised actors' abilities to play "adolescent insolence". I thought to myself, 'Yeah, this is a common type in teen movies', but what came first - adolescent insolence or "Rebel Without a Cause"? Of course the insolence came first, but did the movies make it the chosen behavior of a teenage hero? Or is it just a natural response from a certain type of individual trying to save face? I need more research - unless someone has the answers.