Behind the Shenzhen Teacher's Day street interview: Teachers inspect dorms and have heart-to-heart talks, sacrifice lunch breaks to help students—where are the legal boundaries?
On the 42nd Teachers' Day, a Shenzhen News reporter interviewed students and adults on the streets of Pingshan. The image of teachers captured in the lens was very well-rounded: lesson planning and teaching, and grading homework are their duties, while checking dormitories and having heart-to-heart talks, accompanying students in running and sports, and sacrificing lunch breaks to provide one-on-one support to struggling students are contributions beyond the podium. These small, everyday details give the teacher-student relationship warmth and also make the word "teacher" carry a weight far beyond the teaching syllabus.
From a lawyer's perspective, however, behind this warmth lies a set of legal relationships that cannot be avoided: where are the boundaries of teachers' authority in performing their duties? Once accidents or disputes arise from dormitory inspections, heart-to-heart talks, or after-school assistance, how should liability be allocated? The Civil Code, the Teachers Law, the Law on the Protection of Minors, and the Ministry of Education's Rules on Educational Disciplinary Measures for Primary and Secondary Schools (for Trial Implementation) together weave a net that protects both students' rights and teachers' lawful performance of their duties. This article, drawing on local judicial practice in Shenzhen, unpacks this net for closer examination.
Educational punishment is not corporal punishment—where is the line drawn?
The "Rules on Educational Disciplinary Measures for Primary and Secondary Schools (Trial)" that took effect in March 2021 defined the definition and methods of educational discipline for the first time in the form of departmental regulations. The rules divide discipline into three categories: general discipline (such as naming and criticizing, ordering an apology, standing in the classroom for the duration of one class period, etc.), heavier discipline (such as counseling by the person in charge of moral education, suspension from collective activities, etc.), and severe discipline (such as suspension from classes and school, admonishment by the vice principal for rule of law, etc.). The key premise is that discipline must be based on educational purposes, be commensurate with the degree of the offense, and must not be carried out by means such as hitting, pricking, verbal abuse, or deliberate isolation.
In Shenzhen, it is not uncommon for teachers to be complained about or even reported to the police by parents for disciplining students. In 2023, a primary school teacher in Bao'an District made a student stand at the back of the classroom for about 15 minutes because the student had repeatedly disrupted the class. The parents complained to the education bureau on the grounds of "disguised corporal punishment." In the end, the education department determined that the behavior fell within the scope of ordinary discipline and did not exceed the limits of the rules. This case shows that teachers have legal grounds for exercising disciplinary power, but they must keep records of the process and grasp the limits of time and method.
Lawyer's note: Schools should specify in their rules the circumstances warranting disciplinary action and the corresponding measures. Before imposing more severe discipline, teachers should inform the parents and keep written records. In the event of a dispute, complete compliance records are the teacher's strongest evidence for exemption from liability.
Dorm inspections and heart-to-heart talks, after-class assistance: well-intentioned fulfillment of duties may also trigger liability.
The dormitory visits and heart-to-heart talks mentioned in the news, as well as the sacrifice of lunch breaks for one-on-one assistance, are extra forms of care that teachers voluntarily provide. Such behavior carries a legal risk that is easily overlooked: if a student suffers personal injury during the assistance process, who bears the responsibility?
Article 1199 of the Civil Code provides that if a person with no capacity for civil conduct suffers personal injury while studying or living in a kindergarten, school, or other educational institution, the educational institution shall bear tort liability unless it can prove that it has fulfilled its duty of education and management. Article 1200 provides that if a person with limited capacity for civil conduct suffers personal injury, the school bears liability only if it has failed to fulfill its duty of education and management. In other words, while students are at school, the school's duty to ensure safety is statutory and is not automatically exempted merely because the activity is an "after-school tutoring program."
A case once occurred in Longgang District, Shenzhen: a teacher was tutoring several students in the classroom during the lunch break, and one student fractured a bone after tripping over a chair while getting up to fetch water. The parents sued the school. The court held that the school still had management duties during the lunch break, but that the teacher's unpaid tutoring was a good-faith performance of duties, and ultimately ruled that the school should bear part of the compensation liability, while the teacher was not personally jointly liable.
This ruling sends a clear signal: while teachers' goodwill and dedication deserve recognition, schools, as the managing party, should purchase school liability insurance for scenarios such as extended childcare and after-school tutoring, and establish duty inspection and emergency response plans. Teachers themselves should avoid spending extended periods alone with students in enclosed spaces without other adults present, which protects both the students and themselves.
Privacy and Reputation in Home-School Communication: A Red Line That Is Easy to Cross
In the news, "home-school communication" is described as part of a teacher's daily routine, but when the methods of communication are inappropriate, it can easily slide from "caring" into "infringement." Typical scenarios include: publicly naming and shaming a student in a parent group for poor grades, forwarding a student's psychological assessment results to other parents, and posting photos of students being punished on social media.
Article 63 of the Law on the Protection of Minors explicitly stipulates that no organization or individual may disclose a minor's personal privacy, including class rankings, physical and mental health conditions, and other such information. Articles 1032 to 1034 of the Civil Code set out systematic provisions on the protection of privacy rights and personal information. In 2024, a homeroom teacher in Nanshan District, Shenzhen, published in a parents' group chat the names and photos of students who had not completed their homework, and was sued by a parent for infringement of privacy rights. The court ruled that the teacher must publicly apologize in the group chat and pay compensation for emotional distress.
Practical legal perspective: Home-school communication should follow three principles: "point-to-point feedback, no public evaluations, and no dissemination of images." Schools should include a special topic on the Personal Information Protection Law in teacher training and clearly define rules for managing parent groups. If teachers need to retain student information for work purposes, it should be limited to what is necessary and kept confidential.
Teachers' own rights and interests: Who will provide a safety net for overtime work and accidental injuries?
When discussing respect for teachers on Teachers' Day, we should not only talk about dedication but also about safeguards. Details in the news such as "sacrificing lunch breaks" and "inspecting dormitories and having heart-to-heart talks" reflect that teachers' working hours often exceed the legal scope. According to the Labor Law and the Labor Contract Law, the relationship between teachers and schools is an employment relationship (private schools) or a personnel relationship (public schools), and overtime work should be arranged with compensatory time off or overtime pay in accordance with the law. But in reality, teachers' overtime is often dissolved by the discourse of "teacher ethics" and "dedication," and their awareness of defending their rights is generally insufficient.
Another commonly overlooked issue is the determination of work-related injuries for teachers. In 2023, a teacher in Longhua District, Shenzhen, was involved in a traffic accident on the way home after evening self-study, for which they were not primarily responsible, and the human resources and social security department ultimately recognized it as a work-related injury. This was based on Article 14, Item 6 of the Regulations on Work-Related Injury Insurance: injuries from traffic accidents on the way to and from work, for which the person is not primarily responsible, shall be recognized as work-related injuries. However, if an injury occurs during an extracurricular activity organized by the teacher on their own, the determination may be questionable.
Lawyers from Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm suggest that schools should pay work-related injury insurance for teachers in accordance with the law and clarify compensation mechanisms for extended working hours; when participating in activities outside teaching arrangements, teachers should pay attention to whether the school has made safety plans and liability insurance arrangements. In the event of a dispute over the determination of a work-related injury, an administrative reconsideration should be applied for or an administrative lawsuit should be filed promptly to avoid missing the time limit.
A blessing for Teachers' Day is light, but the legal framework supporting this profession is heavy. From the limits of educational discipline, to the responsibility for after-school support, to the privacy red lines in home-school communication, each item requires schools, teachers, and parents to calibrate together within the legal framework. Warmth should not come at the cost of blurred rights and responsibilities; clear boundaries are precisely the best protection for both teachers and students. If you are a school administrator or teacher facing confusion over the division of campus safety responsibilities, responses to home-school disputes, or the protection of teachers' rights, you may consult a professional education lawyer to keep risks out before litigation.
