Ontario's Premier Dalton McGuinty said Thursday that in controversies like the ban on hard balls at an east Toronto school, the big question is balancing safety with keeping children active.

During a scrum with reporters, McGuinty said he supported the right of the principal at Earl Beatty Jr. and Sr. Public School to ban the use of hard balls in the school's small playground.

However, McGuinty also said he “would encourage the principal to talk to the parents and talk to the community to get the right balance.”

"We want to make sure that our kids are safe, but on the other want, we want to make sure they are active," he said.

Jokingly, McGuinty suggested: "I don't think balls are registered weapons, last time I checked. I'm sure we're going to find a way forward and that balls will soon be back in that school."

Earlier this week, the school issued the following statement: "Any balls brought will be confiscated and may be retrieved by parents from the office. The only kind of ball allowed will be nerf (sic) balls or sponge balls."

An explosion of outrage followed as parents, students and the public accused the school of mollycoddling children by overreacting to a few incidents where someone was hit with a ball.

"It was a rash decision and now we can talk about how to make it all work," parent Diana Symonds told CTV News on Thursday.

"I have three kids at the school and I have never been concerned about that. I have been hit with snowballs and balls, this stuff happens."

Sheila Cary-Meagher, a Toronto District School Board trustee, told CTV News that the decision was made after a parent complained about suffering a concussion following a hit to the head by a soccer ball.

"I think the principal had been trying very hard after the incident with the parent and a number of other incidents with children, to get the kids and the people in the playgrounds to calm down a little bit. To take seriously that balls could hurt people," Cary-Meagher said.

"It wasn't getting anywhere so I think she came to the end of her rope and did this."

Cary-Meagher said the ball ban may not have been the best route to take, but at least people are paying attention.

Earl Beatty Public School caters to students attending kindergarten as well as much larger Grade 8 students. It features a schoolyard that most agree is too small to accommodate all the games students want to play

Symonds said the decision to ban balls was made too quickly and the community should have had a chance to discuss alternatives.

"As parents and kids we all have to figure out how to solve the problem, set up some guidelines and also have some room on the playground where kids can play with their balls. They need to play soccer and football; we want them to run around."

She suggested that with winter coming, children will forget about balls and turn their attention to playing with the snow.

This could, of course, lead to an old-fashioned snow ball fight.

"You can't stop kids. They are going to make a ball out of something," Symonds said.