Smacks by wooden spoons should not be tolerated, some children at Dubbo skate park said yesterday, although others thought it was acceptable.

Their views come after Victorian woman Claire Davidson was warned by police that she could face charges if she employed the wooden spoon as a means of discipline again, News Ltd reported yesterday.

As they paused from their tricks on the skate park many of the boys said they would strike back should their parents take to them with a wooden spoon.

Fred McGuiness would “flog them back” should they resort to the wooden spoon with him.

Daine Cox said he would hit back.

Most of the boys reported that they had not encountered a wooden spoon before.

Jarrod Heidenreich said he had never felt the erstwhile kitchen implement, but that he’d take the person to court should they do do anything to him.

Luke Edwards thought a parent smacking a child with a wooden spoon was assault.

Call Kids Helpline, he recommended, and he said there were better ways of dishing out punishment.

Nathan D’Esposito agreed.

“You could send them to their room,” he said.

Daemon Edwards was in disagreement with his peers.

He had experienced the wooden spoon, but not since one particular episode.

“Nanny broke the last one on me,” he said.

“It depended on the child, but there might be nothing wrong with it at times,” he said.

It is not illegal to smack a child - but the level of force must be appropriate, say police.

The clarification comes after a Victorian mother was reportedly told she could be charged with “assault with a weapon” for using a wooden spoon to discipline her daughter.

Acting Inspector Lauren Callaway from the Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Unit said today there were no clear-cut rules about smacking, but there was a line that could be crossed.

“We don’t have a checklist as such,” she said.

“The test is what is reasonable.”

faye.wheeler@rural press.com