I think you missed the part where the kid hasn't gotten in trouble since. It seems to me that they are harassing the kid because they feel a need to harass som

I think you missed the part where the kid hasn't gotten in trouble since. It seems to me that they are harassing the kid because they feel a need to harass someone and at least with this kid, the bootlickers have a past mistake to point at as "good reason". (scare quotes because the kid got in trouble once, then didn't anymore, not actually a bad path, just a bad choice once - therefore not even a remotely accurate reason. unless you love that boot flavor that is).