It is hard to comprehend today that we once went to school expecting to be hit. Mum changed that

She was a woman whose legal battle inspired her son into law and her country to change its ways. Forty years ago, Grace Campbell was a mother determined to protect her children from being beaten by teachers as she fought her case against the use of the belt all the way to the European Court of Human Rights.

Her son Andrew said: “In terms of legacy, what my mum did inspired me to become a lawyer and study human rights law. But, for me, the greatest legacy is the one my mum gave my children, who are happy and relaxed to go to school; who are incredulous at the idea of violence in a classroom; and who are deeply inspired by what their granny did for them and others.

“It’s hard for people to comprehend now what it was like over 40 years ago. It was absolutely ingrained in the culture that if you went to school then you could expect to be hit by your teacher, typically for the smallest things and often for nothing at all.

“My mum didn’t want me or my brother to go through what she went through and believed she should be able to have her own children educated without being hit. So, when my brother became of school age, she asked the school for an assurance that he wouldn’t be belted.”

The school said that was impossible and pointed her to Strathclyde Regional Council for an explanation. The council absolutely refused and pointed to its own guidance that regulated how children were to be hit in Strathclyde.

After trying the politicians, it was clear that this was just the law in Scotland and there was no appetite for changing it because how could you teach kids without smacking them?

So Grace Campbell went to Strasbourg. Andrew said: “It was a fight all the way and it took almost a decade. My parents weren’t rich and the court costs involved were huge; the case was only able to be taken because some of the lawyers gave their time for free. Just as the local council couldn’t believe someone would have the temerity to challenge them, so did the government.

“From Margaret Thatcher down, it was fought tooth-andnail. Even after the government lost at Strasbourg, they only reluctantly complied with the ruling and slipped out the law change quietly just before the new school year started in 1982.

“It took a toll on all of us. The stress on my parents was palpable but they did a great job of insulating us from a lot of it.”

But there were lots of consequences for taking a stand.

Andrew said: “Teachers were at the centre of society back then, you just didn’t go against the education establishment, so we were really out there for people to take pot-shots at.