One armed TV presenter is 'scaring kids'...

[max_tranmere]

A woman presenter on the C Beebies channel, who was born with only one arm, is apparently frightening children. Numerous parents have complained on forums and directly to the BBC, and some are refusing to let their kids watch the programmes she presents. A few people have said the BBC has only employed her for PC reasons as they now have these quota targets that our lovely left-wing Government forced on them meaning they have to employ a certain number of disabled people, and ethnic minorty people aswell, otherwise they will be in trouble.

My view on how these things should be done is to not have a positive discrimination policy but choose the best people from the pool of people applying, and if the applicants are a representive cross-section of society then you will naturally end up with more disabled people and ethnic minority people in these posts. But back to the core issue, this one armed woman on the BBC kids channel. One parent said he didn't want his daughter watching because it would give her 'sleep problems' when she goes to bed later. Others have said the woman shouldn't be on there at all as her missing arm causes kids general distress. It is not like she is wearing a long sleeved jacket while presenting - which would mean it is not obvious she only has one arm - she presents in a short sleeved t-shirt meaning her disability is obvious and blatant.

What are other people's views on this: should she be employed on the show? Do these parents have a legitimate gripe? Do you think the BBC are only doing this for PC reasons? What are your views?

[colonel]

Are you arguing that people with disabilities should be hidden from public view?

[Peter]

Its a difficult one. Of course, her disability shouldn't ordinarily prevent her from doing the job, but on the other hand, if children are genuinely being frightened by it, and its impossible to reason with a toddler, what do you do? Force the child to sit through the terrifying ordeal?

I have family experience of such events, its not easy, and no ideal compromise can ever be reached, but if a reasonable compromise is possible, it should be considered.

[mrmcfister]

The reason tht kids are frit is because thgey don't see it.I expect that this is more a churlish lot of adults rather than real kids frightened.Good luck to her.She has a disadvantge that probably all on this forum don't.

[Zorro]

She has been on the TV for a couple of weeks now, and my son has watched her everyday, however, yesterday he shouted out to my wife

"Mummy, mummy look that woman's hand has fallen off" He was not frightened only showing how children react to things, they stare then state the obvious. We then explained her disability and he did not give it another thought.

In my opinion it is the parents complaining as they are taking offensive to her disability.

Did she get the job because of her disability? I do not know. Is she good at what she does? She is not as good as Sid, Andy, Poy or Chris, so she should get the boot for that reason, not because she is disabled.

[Peter]

Zorro wrote:


> "Mummy, mummy look that woman's hand has fallen off" He was not
> frightened only showing how children react to things, they
> stare then state the obvious. We then explained her disability
> and he did not give it another thought.

>

I went to school from day one with two disabled kids, it was explained to us simply that Richard's legs didn't work as well as ours, thats why he walked with crutches, and Hazel's legs didn't work at all, and thats why she was in a wheelchair. We just accepted it, especially as Richard's sticks made great machine guns!

However, A younger cousin of mine had real problems with a local woman who had a speech impediment. She could only grunt, squeal and communicate at what I can only describe at a caveman level. This absolutely terrified the young lad everytime, once to the point of running across a busy road to get away.

How do you deal with that when the person, a two year old, just can't be reasoned with? They managed to work it out between them until the kid was old enough to understand, but its just not a clear cut case with kids involved, and at least the question should be allowed to be asked.

[laralatex]

Well I personally object to seeing is fat, foul-mouthed, abusive chavs taking over television (particularly on chat shows and reality tv - which is NOT my reality), so how do I get them off t.v ????

Also, we live in a diverse society, so how do you teach your children respect and tolerance of others with disabilities (which they will when they leave their front doors) without having to cross the street and avert their eyes from 'the horror that is a one-armed woman? These 'complainers' are shocking. I can't believe it really. !rant!

[colonel]

Quite a good discussion here:

[JonnyHungwell]

Remember The Fugitive - En route to death row, Kimble's train derails and crashes, allowing him to escape and begin a cross-country search for the real killer, a "one-armed man"!

[JonnyHungwell]

Then there was Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) --- A one handed stranger comes to a tiny town possessing a terrible past they want to keep secret, by violent means if necessary.