They wrote him to be cheap drama to give Stewart something to work with instead of just being a toned down, professional Shatner. We were all going to take the Captains side, seeing him as annoying as the Captain did. From the sounds of Wheaton's book, he really wasn't treated all that well by the show runners for being as young as he was. It's kind of shitty to write a young kid in to be the conflict in a well respected characters arc.