Currently, I can only allow students to add discussions at both levels in the Settings, i.e., the course level and the lesson level. In my online courses, I ask students to start a new discussion each week. At the end of a week, these discussions are closed to comments. It happens again and again, that students simply add a new discussion at the course level. I move these discussions to the lesson level so that they are graded properly.
I wish it were possible to allow students to add discussions only at the lesson level, but not at the course level.