Mark Jones, president of the Dunedin Secondary Principals' Association, said there was a history of problems at the hub and that as principal of Bayfield High School he had advised students to avoid the area.
“That's the best they can do,” he said.
The comments were made after Dunedin boy Enere Mclaren-Taana, 16, died after an attack at the city's bus interchange on Thursday afternoon.
A 13-year-old boy accused of murder has been taken into custody after appearing in Youth Court on Friday and will appear in the Supreme Court on June 11.
The police found a knife at the scene and are investigating the circumstances that led to the stabbing.
Mr Jones said the extra security and increased police patrols in the area following Thursday's incident would help, and he called on the community to also look out for its young people.
He said all schools would support their young people affected by the tragedy.
His comments were backed by national bodies this weekend, which said violent incidents at bus and train stations involving young people appeared to be on the rise.
National Secondary Principals Association president Vaughan Couillault said violence between RNZ students was becoming increasingly acute, leading to serious injuries or worse.
Fights often took place between groups and they “did not stop when the person perishes”.
Umbrella Wellbeing chief executive Dougal Sutherland said the use of a knife was shocking and concerning.
However, these types of incidents rarely occurred in isolation, he said.
“There are many contextual implications to consider, as well as one's level of development [young person].
“Many factors may have combined to lead to this truly terrible and tragic outcome.”
Schools' fears about safety at the bus interchange were supported by anecdotal evidence provided to the bus ODT since Thursday.
Carrie van Rij said she intervened in a fight between two teenage boys outside Dunedin Central Police Station as she walked through the interchange with three young children in June last year.
One of the boy's faces was “completely broken.”
She entered the station and an officer took notes, but she was “shocked” by what she called his blasphemous response to the incident.
“I said to the officer, 'He's there, why don't you deal with him?' And I just got a shrug from the officer, as if it was over now and nothing could be done.”
Other people preferred to remain anonymous.
A Queen's High School student at the bus interchange said Friday that several incidents while using the interchange had left her and her friends scared.
Midway through last year, a man saw the student with her friends and approached them, yelling and screaming.
'He must have been drunk or on drugs. We just pulled into the Look Sharp Store to get away.”
The student said she had a restricted driver's license and couldn't legally drive her younger sister home alone, but felt she had no other choice.
'I'm going to take my little sister to and from school. There is no other way for her to get home than by bus.
“My mother doesn't want that, I don't want that and she doesn't want that. I'm just willing to take whatever punishment I get if I'm arrested.”
The student said something had to be done because students should not be afraid to commute to school.
'I hope something is done, because if not, there will be many parents who have to take their children to school, and many older brothers and sisters on their limited [licence] taking their younger brothers and sisters to school, and you get children who are terrified of going to school because they don't know if they'll get home safely. “
Several people have reported violence.
A woman said her 14-year-old sister was terrified to go to the bus interchange because she said people wanted to fight her and had taken weapons (such as pocket knives) there.
Another woman said her 15-year-old son was punched in the face by an unknown person in an unprovoked attack in July last year while she was leaving school for football practice, while another said she was at the police station last month walked in to report a fight. saw a man hit a young person in the head. She was concerned that no one else seemed to respond.
The owner of the nearby store, Smiths Sports Shoes, Greg Lapwood, said he did not see Thursday's incident but heard the noise when emergency services arrived.
He said he thought it was just another “poor kid getting beat up again.”
“Am I surprised? No. Disappointed? Yes.”
When the Otago Regional Council decided the bus interchange would be developed, it had reassured him that it would be “the most amazing, beautiful space ever created in Dunedin”, he said.
Security guards hired by the city had helped, but he didn't think they could do much.
He had contacted Dunedin City Council “many times” but they were not interested, he said.
He had also contacted several high schools to point out the “misbehavior” of their students, but said he was also “rebuffed” by them and had since given up.
The community continued to commemorate the loss of Enere this weekend.
A wall of Community House near the scene of the incident is filled with messages of love and sadness, next to a Cook Islands flag.
'I'm sorry. You deserved a sm [so much] better than this,” said one. “Forever young, I love you guys so much,” said another.
Enere's rugby team, the Intermediate Otago Combined Sassenachs, canceled their scheduled match against Dunstan High School on Saturday out of respect.
Otago Rugby and Otago Rugby League both paid tribute to the avid rugby player on their social media pages, saying their communities were “shocked” and expressing sadness for the teenager's family as they endured “this impossibly difficult time”.
The police had no update on the investigation yesterday.