Posted on 02/23/2009 7:19:32 AM PST by BGHater
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.
Miss Burnell and co-presenter Alex Winters took over the popular Do and Discover slot and The Bedtime Hour programme last month.
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?
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I had an uncle who used to poke us kids with the stub of his finger. My dad still drops his teeth down the shirts of unsuspecting children. LOL
The wardrobe department will come to her rescue.
The scary part about most kid show hosts is that dull dead look in their eyes as they contemplate all the time they spent on acting lessons just to wind up in front of a pack of screaming 4 year-olds.
We must make all children equal. Therefore, all two armed children shall have their right arm removed.
Thank you.
That is all.
If she were a raging lesbian there wouldn’t be any concern.
It’s television, if it doesn’t work then they have to go with someone else.
Some of these "parents" need to grow the fsck up.
Maybe the brits need to encourage their children not to be a bunch of pansies rather than worrying that the little tykes might be scared by an otherwise attractive woman who has overcome a birth defect and who should serve as an excellent role model.
seriously! how do these kids behave towards physically disabled peers? do they run screaming from them too?
Not Guilty
*sigh* Britain continues its steep decline.
I had an uncle that lost his hand in an accident at work. He used to scare the heck out of me, and the rest of the kids in our family. I did have nightmares about him.
When I look back, I feel bad for him. He seemed like a nice man. It must have been hard having all the kids in your family terrified of you.
No, the parents are uncomfortable with her.
She is lovely and the kids need to understand that everyone is different.
Although here in the states, if you watch kids tv, there are no white people unless they have Downs Syndrome. At least that’s what I found when I used to be subjected to Sesame Street.
Britain has become a nation of weenies.
Lie down and get walked over the Muslim fanatics now scare your kids into fear of disabled people ....
Kids are more curious about things different and they like to learn... so when the parent reacts in horror... guess who the kid is gonna copy?
The same on VH-1 and MTV. You would think the country is 88% black or brown.
Personally, I would look at the other adults in the family. Parents need to make the children feel comfortable about disabilities.
We had friends with a Dad with no arms, only hooks. That family also had a little girl with CP. They were just kind of normal to us.
So these children never leave their homes?
Never go to the grocery store?
Never go to the Mall?
Do not go to a school.
Have never had to go to a hospital or doctors office?
Hey parents, get a gripand educate your children.It is your duty...
Commercials are the same way.
Unless someone is breaking into your house. Then he is white.
I wouldn’t mind this lady teaching me something. Def not your typical British person.
I have no understanding of why McDonald’s tries to go ghetto with their commercials. Makes no sense.
I don’t go to McDonald’s every once in awhile because I think it is cool...I go because I get a hankering for chicken nuggets or something.
Sometimes little kids just have irrational fears.
Oh for crying out loud! This TV actress may have been born without an arm, but some of these parents seem to have been born without brains. Is is THAT hard to find the “OFF” button on the TV?
It is the fastest rising demographic in the country: urban ethnic youth. I have a friend in marketing. Several years ago, she scored a big contract with Seagram’s to name a line of flavored malt liquors aimed at ethnic urban youth. Another contract involved ethnic urban youth campaigns for Yum! Foods and doing the event planning for some awards seminar for young ethnic women in business.
This demographic spends their cash. You likely save yours. You may both patronize McDonald’s, and for the same reason, but they likely patronize it more often.
During a slack time of no work, I looked at the survey sites on the web, signed up for some and discovered that older, rural, white people were mostly disqualified from the surveys for not being in a preferred demographic.
At least they didn't hire the "one-armed violinist" from Hollywood Knights.
I should sign up for some survey sites and claim to be a young black man. :)
So she works her butt off overcoming large numbers of psychological and physical obstacles to work on TV and the PARENTS are scared not the kids. You know how I know the kids are not scared? My wife has a similar condition and works with kids. When one of her new kids discovers her arm, they either don’t care or they are curious about it. Not once has one been scared. The parents feel uncomfortable so they are putting up a stink. Shame on them.
That could be.
Exactly.
My sister was in a wedding of a friend who was born without a hand. She was unbelievably patient when kids asked questions about it. Even pointing out the tiny bumps that could have been her fingers.
These parents are whacked.
I know a guy that has a similar right ‘hand’. He plays guitar with a pick attached to a wristband. incredible...
WOW!!!
That’s amazing! What a guy!
Well, she’s certainly a cutie.
Hispanic, black man, born 1989.
good grief ping
"I was born a poor black child..."
I need to see that movie...been on my list since I like Steve Martin, but just have never gotten around to it yet.
I used to know a man who had an arm like hers. He was about the right age for it to have been a Thalidomide deformity. Best damn welder I ever saw.
Europeans hate the disabled. That’s why they kill them.
The adults encourage them to victimize the disabled in the hope that they will commit suicide. Ever been to a British school?
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