Maybe I'm reading too much into your comment, but I really dislike the implication of the words "exploits his popularity".
This is a 14yo which was gratuitously accused of being a terrorist by his teachers - the very people that we as a society tell kids to trust and look up to.
He was handcuffed and arrested, he went through a detention intake process, mugshot and all.
the kid assembled a "suitcase bomb" prop and kept showing it off to his friends during class. His teacher told him to stop, he didn't and kept being disruptive. Obviously calling the cops on his bad behaviour is overkill, but the he is no wunderkind as portrayed by the media (and even the WH).
he literally said something like 'that's nice but it looks like a bomb. don't show anyone else.' -- it doesn't seem to me to be unsupportive, just worried. I don't think a teacher would say something like that in confidence with a student unless that student had a certain rapport with the teacher.
This is a 14yo which was gratuitously accused of being a terrorist by his teachers - the very people that we as a society tell kids to trust and look up to.
He was handcuffed and arrested, he went through a detention intake process, mugshot and all.
The word exploit really does not sound right.