I think the treatment by the public of this woman is disgusting. As a blogger said rightly on that website; how dare Parents treat this woman who is trying to make a honest living out of TV.
I agree that young people should be taught the extent of disabled people in the world today. I have had first hand experience with a severely disabled older brother, but someone being disabled is part of every day life; and rather than be hostile to this person, be thankful that their children are growing up watching and learning with someone like this.
Absolutley appauling.
It's an interesting article. I haven't actually seen her on television, but I am sure she is just as good as any other television presenter and I think it's unfortunate she has come under fire like this.
Lots of people have disabilities - some physical and some physiological and to treat people differently because of this is just plain wrong. I think these parents are a little out of touch myself.
that is out of order!
i agree with everything richard has said above, this is absolutley out of order.. and i think those people on the board's should be ashamed!
Disgusting!
I just hope the BBC don't give into public pressure, and sideline her!!!
They'd be strung up for that surely.Originally Posted by richardharris
I think it's an awful shame someone is in this day and age is still persecuted over a physical disability, I do often wonder what people would rather happen, keep the disabled people out of sight out of mind? It's disgraceful.
how exactly does she 'scare' children ?
doe she detach a prosthetic limb in mid-sentence ? does she even use a prosthetic arm, i have no idea. surely most young children understand the concept that there are people who've lost limbs or are missing a limb....
and i figure they find this out at a fairly young age, i know i did.
what are these parents babbling on about.
This story has been featured a lot on our local news as she's from the South East. Apparently one of the complainants said that the BBC was forcing them to discuss the issue of disability with their children before they were ready to do so () and another said that the sight of the girl's stump arm would give their child nightmares. Ridiculous and unnecessary prejudice.
Experience with my children on the subject of people being different suggests that as long as the parent gives a straightforward unconcerned answer the younger child accepts it and carries on as before... especially if they're more interested in watching the television. (shame that doesn't work with teenagers)
"Mummy. Why's that lady got no hand?"
"She was born like that. Not everyone's the same"
The only time I remember ducking an issue was in the middle of Maidstone with my then 6 year old daughter. We were crossing a busy road with lots of other people at a pedestrian crossing and I was trying to keep hold of her and not crash the buggy into anyone else... my daughter piped up very loudly "Mummy... how do babies come out of ladies' tummies?" I have to admit was something along the lines of "If you think I'm answering that now..." much to the disappointment of everyone else crammed onto the road island. She'd forgotten about it by the time we got to the car.
For other parents whose kids ask difficult questions, I recommend this book: [ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Questions-Children-Ask-Miriam-Stoppard/dp/0751333336]Questions Children Ask: Miriam Stoppard: Amazon.co.uk: Books[/ame]
There will be many young children who know someone with similar disabilities in person. Either a member of the class, family friend etc... Would they scare the children?
I actually think it would be doing more harm in the long term if parents screen children from something like this.
@gatt i know you have a young child, what do you think about this as a parent?
Argh.. just typed a long post - clicked submit and nothign was sent..
In summary - I think its wrong to judge people on colour, race, physical attributes, etc
We are who we are..
I love it that children have the ability to accept other for who they are - Daniel certainly does, he watches CBeebies every day and doesn't run away scared from Cerrie, or the kids in "Something Special" or anyone else..
The only thing he does run away from is that floating head in NumberJacks (The Puzzler?)
No doubt he will soon start asking the "why has she only got one arm?" questions, and when he does we will tell him
We certainly wont sheild him from people simply because of their attributes or colour..
kmount (1st March 2009)
My background of working with kids is from special needs playschemes. This is the sort of attitude that we had to battle with 15 years ago when on trips out and it still saddens me.
What next? Parents complaining because someone with ginger hair is on TV? The welsh not appearing on English TV? The Irish not being allowed to be shown playing rugby?
Sad ... and any parent that has this attitude of 'well, they might be scared because little Johnny / Sarah hasn't seen this before' gets treated with the same as those are sexist, racist or homophobic because it is different. Educate them ... and if they still can't understand why they are hurtful, ignorant idiots then ignore them and ridicule them for the small-minded people they are.
my four year old asked "Why has that lady got no hand?" I explained that she may have been born like that and there are loads of people that may look differently. He smiled, they kept watching her on TV.
It saddens me to think that the parents who are complaining bring their children up this way. Surely it's better to explain than to sidestep any issues like this??
I'd hate to think what would happen if their child saw someone in a wheelchair, what would the parents do then?
You mean I might not be able to be on TV????
As for the young lady in question: In my experience small children just accept people the way they are, it is when they get a bit older that they might start to make fun of someone who is a bit different - but if they have seen such things from an early age, then maybe this won't happen
Used a line like just that recently with my 5-yr old and that was that. She's a bit past CBeebies now, but has watched Something Special lots of times and never remarked on the kids in that. C'est la vie."She was born like that. Not everyone's the same"
There will always be people thinking/saying daft things, the biggest suprise for me is that some journo decided to make a report out of a small handful(?) doing that on some net forum... storm in a microscopic teacup.
Exactly, the Something Special programme (and anything with [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Fletcher"]Justin[/ame] in it) teaches kids sign language and has several children with disabilities.
Are these parents to complain about these programmes too?
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