Bear spray has mixed results.
These bears need to be killed.
Our society has been manipulated to believe animals have greater value than humans. But this is a false belief.
Sounds like the kids just stumbled into a situation where they got to close to a cub and the mother reacted accordingly. Easy to do in areas with short line of sight. And they are fortunate the mother was not hungry as they often are in the spring.
Many years ago I accidentally treed a black bear cub; thought it was a big raccoon at first glance, and only realized my mistake as I heard the bushes moving behind me. It's not a comfortable situation, that's for sure.