1978-1982: S.T.O.P.P.: (Scotland): A Family Affair
John Aitkenhead and his children Neill and Lois were supporters of this group.
Founded in 1968, the Society of Teachers Opposed to Physical Punishment (S.T.O.P.P.) was a UK pressure group that campaigned to end corporal punishment in schools and other institutions.
Between January 1978 and November 1982, one of its aims was to ban the use of the tawse in Scottish schools.
(I remember it well, as a pupil of Jordanhill College School, Glasgow 1965-1968!)
On 31st January 1978 John Aitkenhead received the following letter from Ian Bayne. Ian became the Secretary for S.T.O.P.P. Scotland.
John, Neill and Lois all attended the Children’s Rights conference held in Glasgow. The papers and discussion documents were collated in the publication: Children’s Rights Extinction or Rebirth, edited by Lois Aitkenhead. Her husband, John Crallan, designed the book cover and the speakers included Christine Wilson who later became a Trustee of Kilquhanity School. The publication was sponsored by S.C.C.L, the Scottish Council for Civil Liberties.
Childrens Rights Extinction or Rebirth Book cover, designed by John Crallan
John Aitkenhead appears on the cover in his kilt, listening attentively to one of the speakers at the conference. Lois Aitkenhead contributed the introduction to this publication.
The conference guest speakers included R. F. MacKenzie, Colin Maclean (legendary journalist and founding editor of Times Educational Supplement Scotland, Max Patterson, an innovative figure in the development of services for children in Scotland, and Christine Wilson.
In 1981 John Aitkenhead was asked if he would be guest speaker at the S.T.O.P.P. Scotland A.G.M which John was happy to oblige.
It is noteworthy that John Aitkenhead’s support for S.T.O.P.P. Scotland extended to financial generosity as well as his becoming a ‘sponsor’ along with Denis Canavan and George Foulkes, both of them Labour M.Ps
In the spring of 1981, John Aitkenhead received the following letters from Denis Canavan M.P. and a sponsor of S.T.O.P.P. Scotland and another from Ian Lang a Conservative MP.
You might understand from the above, why I have never voted conservative nor ever will!
S.T.O.P.P. disbanded after corporal punishment was banned in state-supported schools in 1986.
