Page 1 of FFS of the Week: Disabled TV Presenter May Scare Children

BBC News is running a story that the Corporation has received a small number of complaints about TV presenter Cerrie Burnell that her appearance (she was born with the lower part of her right arm missing) may upset the complainants` preschool children.

I suppose you could hold this story up as proof that disablement is so accepted in society that as a group they can be discriminated against without embarrassment, but I don`t think so. I`d like to nominate this as my first FFS-of-the-week.

J Mark Oates

on docusoap Redcoats, about, um redcoats, I have noticed that one of the, um redcoats also only has half an arm.

If Butlins, or Pontins, or whatever it is doesn`t have a problem then why should the BBC?

These people that have complained, can f*** off.

I`d advise them that if they dont want to scare their pre-school children then they should destroy all evidence of their own family trees, and instill at an early age, the belief that failing in life and having low expectancies and career prospects is a good thing.

speaking of good things. Its important to remember that this is one less juggler in the world.

blog

Wonder why there aren`t more disabled teachers in schools?

I can`t see why anyone would have difficulty explaining a disability like that to a child?

My kids hadn`t made any comment at all about it until the Mother-In-Law pointed it out. Now they are simply curious: "Daddy, what happened to her arm to make it like that?" and similar questions.
Most young children don`t notice `difference` in the same way that adults do, anyway - we live in a rural area where it`s unusual to see anyone who isn`t white, but they didn`t make any comment about skin colour when a recent visitor to their school was black, just about what he was wearing!

There are a couple character from childrens books Long John Silver,Captain Hook, a leg a hand and a eye missing between them,if you have only got one arm and tell a small kid that a shark, tiger or crocodile bit it off they they would think that was cool. :)

Just watched the clip and I bet a lot of adults wonderd how she lost her arm, just natural to think that, but to complain about the presenter is just being stupid,good luck to her :)

Mr Basbat

This item was edited on Wednesday, 25th February 2009, 00:29

A mate of mine (bandit) has only half an arm and when my daughter first noticed it (she was 5 then) all she said was "Daddy, how does that man carry his shopping home" :D

At first i wasn`t sure what he was going to say but he was cool about it and just commented on how grown up she was. He admits that children do kind of look at him and step back at first but its only because its the first time they have seen anything like it.

If there was more of this kind of disability on the TV maybe people will find it easier to deal with. It bugs the hell out off me when people are "uncomfortable" around people with disabilities.

I say keep her on the TV. If she is good at what she does then "nothing" should stop her doing it.

The Jackal

We had a teacher with half an arm at junior school...she was scary, but not because of her arm (which I only noticed in my last year when someone asked if I knew how it happened) she was just a cow!

I don`t see a problem with it and think she should stay!