(Thumbnail image: The Telegraph)

Seven children and two adults were killed with a cleaver in the fifth attack on Chinese schools in recent weeks.  The series of killings has Chinese citizens in a panic as people speculate on the motivation for a series of inexplicable killings.

We have perspectives from CNN, Telegraph, China Daily, Sky News and the Christian Science Monitor

CNN reports Chinese officials have augmented school security to try to prevent more violence against children.

"Officials have ramped up security at elementary and middle schools as well as kindergartens. In some schools, guards are now armed with pepper spray and restraining poles. One school, not far from the scene of this latest incident, has told CNN it has three checkpoints before reaching the classroom. And right now, security there has been increased."

Immediately following the attack, The Telegraph reported the government was censoring media coverage of the attacks to avoid copycat killings, to save face during the World Expo in Shanghai, and to calm frantic parents.

On China Daily, there was little mention of the recent killing spree. One article did discuss the safety of Chinese students in the wake of the recent murders.

"The vast majority of schools have already beefed up their security, with both police and teachers now closely guarding school gates ... The innocence of youth is something to be cherished - yet such innocence is something parents cannot afford."

Sky News says it appears there's no end in sight to the attacks, no matter how much money the government spends.

"It is a steady stream of these attacks which seems to have no end to it, sometimes one or two every other day. The police are doing what they can, the budgets are huge. In Chonqing, which is the biggest city complex in China, they're spending 120 million pounds on security in that city alone. But, it just doesn't seem to be doing any good."

Many Chinese wonder if the attacks were due to the killers' mental illness. But The Christian Science Monitor reports the attacks may be partly caused by frustration with social injustice in China.

"It has become the most effective way of avenging oneself on society,” wrote one of China’s most widely read bloggers, Han Han, in a post that was quickly deleted by the authorities. “In a society that has no release valve, killing the weakest members of society has become a release.”

So, are these killings the product of mental illness or society's ills? And are the Chinese government's efforts doing any good?

Writer: Elizabeth Eberlin