I shouldn’t think Scotland was the exception. They existed in practically every civilized country,and still exist today. The other alternative is to send these kids to prison or give them a judicial caning as is still being done today in some countries.
And if canings were common in ordinary scools in UK prior to 1970,you can imagine what it would have been like in these “Schools of Correction”.
I’m not sure about the situation in Scotland but I will check on official sites and report back the results.
there is no evidence that any girls were treated more harshly at any of these schools than at any other school in the UK.
In any case since Scotland was I assume part of the UK at the time, the same regulations would have applied at these so called special schools as did generally across the UK.
Despite the many opinions to the contrary I do not believe girls were treated very harshly at school, generally speaking, during this time. There was cp for girls, but probably only used sparingly and most likely quite moderate.