Balls said parents are using smacking less and less frequently todiscipline young children: "We published evidence from parents lastautumn. There was support to strengthen penalties on parents who abusechildren but when we asked parents if the state should ban smacking, 70per cent said no."
Balls, who was speaking at a Children's Society event at the LabourParty conference, added: "It's very difficult to police a smacking banin any case. It would be the wrong thing to do for children."
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