Teacher Legal Protection in Student Discipline Enforcement

A Socio-Legal Perspective on Institutional Mechanisms in Indonesian Primary Education

Abstract

Student discipline enforcement places teachers in a complex legal position because disciplinary authority must be exercised alongside children’s rights and the possibility of parental objections. Previous studies have largely focused on the normative limits of teachers’ disciplinary actions, while less attention has been given to how legal protection functions at the school level when disciplinary practices lead to conflict. This study examines the implementation of legal protection for teachers in enforcing student discipline at a primary school in Surakarta, Indonesia, and identifies institutional measures needed to reduce protection risks. The study employs a socio-legal design with a descriptive qualitative approach, drawing on 904 recorded disciplinary incidents during the 2025/2026 academic year, school documents, five direct observations, and face-to-face interviews with four key informants. The findings show that the frequency of disciplinary violations does not necessarily indicate the level of legal risk faced by teachers. Most incidents were resolved through educational guidance, whereas two low-frequency incidents resulted in parental objections or threats that affected teachers’ sense of security. The study argues that effective teacher protection depends on clear disciplinary procedures, documented interventions, institutional support, and structured mechanisms for addressing parental disputes. The findings imply that schools should establish preventive guidelines, reporting and documentation procedures, institutional assistance for teachers, and restorative pathways for resolving teacher–parent conflicts while safeguarding children’s rights. These practical measures also provide a basis for comparing contemporary school discipline practices with principles of justice, protection, and dispute resolution in Islamic law.