I thought it was cool. If it was such a life-or-death situation, for a kid to repeat dad saying cleared for departure, why did it take two weeks and a YouTube video for the media or anyone else to notice?
The kid was not clearing planes to avoid traffic, land, or taxi, and even JFK can have slow times. None of the pilots seemed confused about the instructions.
Yes, bad judgement for ATC not knowing the media would turn it into a circus.
This was February 16th. Let's see... Much of the Mid-Atlantic region of the US was shut down due to record snowfalls, which with the flight cancellations presumably slowed flights into and out of JFK considerably, and the Winter Olympics had started, so the news media had far more important and popular things to worry about.
Tempest in a teapot, unless driving enthusiastic youngsters out of the field of aviation is the goal.