[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I would say all cultures accept it, if by that you mean they acknowledge it exists and accept it as normal for a child. What is not common in all cultures is that the adults keep an eye on such behavior and are ready to curtail it if it should show signs of getting out of hand or if it shows signs of persisting after when it reasonably should have been grown out of.

This teen, if he is showing this kind of behavior at this age is either socially retarded or he might have some other problem. The "pestering her to get a reaction" should be long discarded by the mid-teens in a normally developed child.

But then I could be completely off base as far as his motives. He might be jealous that she is smarter, better looking or more popular then he is.

That it seems to be directed at her rather then the rest of the Jewish student body seems to indicate it may be a personal problem of some sort.