We often go up to the Franconia area in New Hampshire and when we do one of our favorite places to visit is Clark's Trading Post where this wonderful family has a great show of trained black bears. The trust between this family and the bears is quite evident in the show.
This year for the firs time after the Bear show they were handing out cards on safety around black bears. People feeding black bears has become a very large problem, not only for people but also the bears, since they come to depend on that food and when it is not available they can starve and die.
Black bear attacks are very rare with only 15 occuring in the last century. I would venture to guess that you've got more of a chance of being attacked by a dog than a black bear.
I feel horrible for the family and the loss of their child and my heart goes out to them.