I got out of highschool before Columbine. I carried a pocket knife the whole time-- it's the way I was raised, a man carried a pocket knife, a pen, a pad of paper, and a lighter, and a money clip (I carried a wallet). I had friends that brought guns to school, one that used to shoot beer cans on the back parking lot. And, yeah, I expect parents of a 6 year old to check the kid's bags before he leaves and when he comes home. In fact, my son's former school requires it of parents. When I was in Scouts we had it drilled in our head over and over: Break the rules, you pay the price. You do something, you take your punishment like a Scout and you don't try to blame it on something else or explain it away, you stand up and say "Yes, I did it".
The Cub Scout in question was caught up in a Zero Tolerance policy that would have even required him to go to reform school for a short time. The Zero Tolerance was put into effect to prevent racial profiling/discrimination. This particular case was reviewed and the kid's back in school, I'm pretty sure. Jan
Striking first is not a defensive action, even if the underlying psychology works out that way. I don't strike first, and to my way of thinking that gives me the moral high ground.