A disabled CBeebies presenter has been the victim of a disturbing campaign after parents complained that she was scaring toddlers.
They claimed that host Cerrie Burnell - who was born with one arm - is not suitable to appear on the digital children's channel...
But the decision to hire her has prompted a flurry of complaints to the BBC and on parenting message boards, with some of the posts on the CBeebies website becoming so vicious that they had to be removed.
Incredibly, one father said he wanted to ban his daughter from watching the channel because he feared it would give her nightmares.
Others claimed that they were forced to discuss difficult issues with their young children before they were ready.
One blogger wrote: 'Is it just me, or does anyone else think the new woman presenter on CBeebies may scare the kids because of her disability?
'I didn't want to let my children watch the filler bits on The Bedtime Hour last night because I know it would have played on my eldest daughter's mind and possibly caused sleep problems. And yes, this is a serious post.'
Some even accused the BBC of hiring Miss Burnell, 29, because of 'political correctness' and solely to meet employment quotas.
One notice board comment read: 'What is scary is the BBC's determination to show " minorities" on CBeebies at every available opportunity!
(More at the Daily Mail online. Via Neatorama's Upcoming Queue.)
Woody Allen once said that "around the age of 4 we begin to realize what we're in for here". By this he meant that around age 4 we start to realize we will die someday. Kids aren't stupid, they figure out pain, injury and even death. Maybe the TV personality with one arm feels threatening to parents because of the illusionary intimacy of the TV beaming into their home. Do these same people keep their offspring from seeing the homeless on the streets, the carnage on TV and in movies, prevent them from ever getting hurt or suffering the death of a family member or friend? They need to calm down and get a grip. This is life on planet Earth. It is never perfect and kids already know this if they are old enough to watch TV.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what the fuss is all about, she's obviously 'armless.
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