Hundreds of Australians have rallied behind a mother fined $750 for smacking her daughter with a wooden spoon – saying it did them no harm when they were kids.
Tania, 35, whacked her nine-year-old after she found the child eating old hamburger meat in their Perth home last October.
She appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Wednesday, where she was found to have used unnecessary force and fined $750.
Since Tania’s story made national headlines, hundreds of Australians have revealed their stories of being beaten as a child – and said they were better for it.
Tania (pictured), 35, hit her nine-year-old daughter with the spoon after she found her eating old hamburger meat in their Perth home last October
Melbourne student Monique Courtney told Daily Mail Australia she knows she’s a better person because of the way she was disciplined as a child
‘Other punishments just didn’t work on me,’ Melbourne student Monique Courtney, 22, told Daily Mail Australia.
When Ms Courtney was young, she said she would throw dramatic tantrums, which is when her mother would resort to hitting her.
‘Literally the only way to bring me out of them was to give me a smack,’ she said.
‘I got the wooden spoon, the spatula, the back of a hairbrush, a belt, everything.’
When asked whether she believes she’s a better person now because of it, Ms Courtney said ‘absolutely’.
When Ms Courtney was young, she would get frustrated and throw tantrums, which is when her mother would resort to hitting her
When asked whether she believes she’s a better person now because of it, Ms Courtney said ‘absolutely’
‘I never came out with lasting marks – physical or psychological – and it taught me that how I wasn’t acting wasn’t OK,’ she said.
‘It taught me that I can’t just get angry and get my way. Behaving poorly has consequences.’
Sydney Marketing Coordinator, Brandon, said he believes all children should receive the type of parenting and discipline he did as a child.
‘We were taught respect – if you didn’t respect your parents or elders, you know you’d made a massive mistake,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘It’s funny because as a child I thought my parents are too hard on me but now as an adult, I’m happy and thankful they were.
‘I’ll probably bring my kids up the same way.’
Sydney Marketing Coordinator, Brandon, said he believes all children should receive the type of parenting and discipline he got as a child
Tania said she hit her daughter in a ‘moment of panic’ as the meat she was eating was meant for their dog and had worming tablets inside it.
‘I panicked and out of frustration, having a lot of difficulties with her behaviour … I just had a moment of frustration,’ she told 7NEWS.
She said she feared her daughter could be poisoned.
‘I could have walked in to find her lying on the floor frothing at the mouth,’ she told Perth Now.
‘That led to frustration and panic and thinking, ”My god, you’ve been told not to do this, this is why I told you not to do it”.’
Tania said she hasn’t been the same since the incident.
‘I’ve been crying, shaking and mortified.’
Though Tania admits the ordeal has been traumatising for her, she said she ‘wouldn’t have done anything differently.’
Many are shocked the mother faced court for hitting her daughter with the spoon, as for them it was a normal part of their childhood.
Tania appeared in the Perth Magistrates Court on Wednesday, where she was found to have used unnecessary force and fined $750
‘When I was growing up God knows how many times me and my siblings copped it,’ Danjela Andrea Livrinski wrote on Facebook.
‘We are all fine, respectful and grew up fast. Kids need tough love especially in this day and age.’
Jeannie Sikora took to Facebook to explain that he got both the wooden spoon and spatula all the time as a child: ‘I made it out alive’.
Meanwhile, many have reminisced about how they had wooden spoons snap in half while being hit with it.
‘I’ve had about ten of these broken across me as a child,’ Jake Andreas wrote.
‘The good old days of getting chased around the house with a wooden spoon are only going to be a memory for most,’ Aaron Judd said.
While it’s a controversial topic among many Australians, it is legal to hit a child without using excessive force.