"I do think the media can play an important role in helping audiences understand the causes of violence rather than just unpacking the manifestations thereof. It leads to what a friend of mine calls 'violence porn'... which desensitises us to the violence. It doesn't help we come up with a more long-term understanding of what lies behind it [the violence] and what needs to be done," she said in Pretoria.

"Because we're always trying to find solutions, I think one of the things that need to be done is a much stronger inter-sectoral approach to solving the problem of school violence. Where is the relationship between [the department of basic education] and the social development [department], and health department? All these parties need to come together and really deal with the issue of school violence."

The National Press Club brought stakeholders - including the police, unions and lobby groups - together to explore the scourge of violence at South African schools.

McFarlane said teachers were also appealing for better training to be able to deal with the current demands of the job.

"I was trained as a teacher, and we never spoke about school violence in our education training. Teachers are being prepared for schools that the large majority of them won't be teaching at. They are not being prepared to deal with the levels of school violence."

Lobby group AfriForum's Ian Cameron said everyone in South Africa should take the blame for the violence manifesting in schools. 

"We're all responsible for the behaviour of children in our society. If we're simply gonna say children are delinquents and they need to go to reform schools or the police must arrest them, we're not solving the problem. All those things are reactive," said Cameron.

The police's Major General Thokozani Mathonsi said the violence in schools cannot be separated from the general crime levels in the communities around the schools.

"Schools do not operate in a vacuum. They operate within the wider community. Having said that, as the police we have the responsibility in terms of the Constitution to protect the people of this country, including the schools. At the same time, we don't want to create a situation where the schools become crime scenes. We don't want to create that situation," said Mathonsi. 

He highlighted a protocol signed with the department of basic education where the stakeholders jointly explore ways to intensity interventions to enhance safety within schools.

African News Agency (ANA)