One-armed presenter is scaring children, parents tell BBC

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.

Controversial: Cerrie Burnell was born with one arm

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!

'This new presenter is c*** - face facts - but because she has a disability then she was given a job. [It is] positive discrimination in my books.'

A BBC spokesman said the broadcaster had received nine formal complaints about Miss Burnell.

But she insisted the new presenter had also received messages of support and that many parents were keen to have a range of people on screen.

Yesterday, Miss Burnell - who has a four-month-old daughter - hit back at her critics, branding them 'small minded' and their remarks 'terrible'.

Admitting she was upset by the comments, she added: 'It can only be a good thing that parents are using me as a chance to talk about disability with their children.

'It just goes to show how important it is to have positive disabled role models on CBeebies and television in general.'

A friend said: 'It's shocking to think that people still have these views and, even worse, that they are passing on this discrimination to their children.' Michael Carrington, controller of CBeebies, said: 'It's a big ask to entertain millions of children every day.

'Cerrie is warm and natural and we think that in time all mums and dads and children will love her as much as we do.'

Originally from Eastbourne, Miss Burnell studied drama in Manchester and won plaudits for her theatre work before landing small roles in EastEnders, The Bill and Grange Hill.

She also works as a teaching assistant at a special needs school in London.

Disability groups have fiercely defended her and the BBC.

John Knight, of charity Leonard Cheshire Disability, said: 'Disabled people experience disadvantage and discrimination like this every day, largely through ignorance. This needs to change.

'Understanding disability all comes down to familiarity. The bottom line is that seeing disabled people on television should be the norm, not the exception.'

Ian Macrae, Editor of Disability Now, said: 'The views of these parents are gob-smacking.



'One of the points of having presenters like Cerrie front and centre is that, the more it happens, the less likely children are to grow up with these sorts of limiting and outmoded attitudes.'





