Carrying a pocket knife when I was growing up wasn't an option, it was practically a rule of life. When I was in HS, I carried a pocket knife every day. I STILL carry one to this day. Hell, some of my teachers would ask us to borrow our knives from time to time when they needed them. I do not remember ONCE having someone pull a knife out in a fight or any other time with the intent on harming someone else.
For that matter, we used to bring our rifles and shotguns to school to go hunting before and after school. Kept them in the car in plain sight. One guy even brought a buck he shot one morning to the vocational building and dressed it there while classes were going on. No one said a word, except to admire his kill!
My, how the times have changed!
I carried a folding knife with a five inch blade. Wore holes in the pockets of my jeans. The high school principal once asked to see it...he gave me tips on keeping it sharp.
Folding lockblades in sheaths were commonplace. No one was ever hurt by a knife while I was in high school, and there were probably hundreds of them there, every day.
In the 80s an outdoor survival class was required for moving beyond middle school where I grew up. Part of it consisted of gun safety, and we had to carry BB guns around a lot (with the teacher watching for unsafe acts). We also had to bring knives to do various survival lessons.
I wonder if that school still teaches that class. And if they do, do the kids bring knives and walk around with guns?
When I was in high school in the mid 70s, I used to bring my rifle to school every Friday during deer season so I could leave to go hunting straight from my last class. I would leave it in the gun rack in the cab of my pickup, parked in clear view in the school parking lot. I remember comparing rifles with friends and teachers during lunch.