Maybe it’s true that what happened at SMAN 1 Banguntapan was just a “tutorial” on wearing a headscarf against a student. It may be true that what happened at SMPN 46 South Jakarta was simply “reminding each other among Muslims”. But don’t forget that there is a power relation, a power relation wrapped in religion.
In the teacher-student relationship, the school-student, the holder or controller of the power, is the first party—meanwhile, the students’ position as subordinates in the relationship. Students are always under the shadow of the power of the teacher or school.
In power relations like this, “tutorial” can mean coercion, and “to remind” can mean to command or to oblige because a student will feel under threat if they do not heed the “tutorial”. That’s why, in this case, an expert calls “psychic violence”. Because there is a power relation, it’s different if parents give the “tutorial” at home. It’s different if “reminding fellow Muslims” is done by a friend while playing marbles. There sonder power relations.
Mistakes in placing positions offside like this need to be corrected. Because, if not, cases like this will continually be repeated and can become fried material for certain parties. It will be full of pejorative framing material. For example, there will be accusations of an anti-hijab or Islamophobia movement. There are already several groups that provide support for what the principal and teachers of SMAN 1 Banguntapan are doing. The student that received the “tutorial” began to be bullied by those groups.
That’s not what happened, though. That, before the republic and before public law, carrying out religious orders according to their respective beliefs is a human right of every person. This means that before the republic and general law, including in public schools; carrying out religious orders according to their respective beliefs was not an obligation they could force—whatever the mode. What is prohibited is suppressing or restricting every citizen from exercising their rights. Thus, for example, forcing students to wear hijabs in public schools is the same as forbidding them to wear them. And vice versa.