Are Adults the Problem?

This morning on the Today Show, I caught the last part of a story about British parents objecting to a new kids television host who has a physical disability. The disability--Cerrie Burnell was born with an incomplete right arm. The accusation--Burnell would scare children and shouldn't be a children's television host.* One father claimed that the host gave his child nightmares and another parent claimed that her daughter refused to watch the program since the addition of Burnell because of her disability.

The video clip focuses more on explaining the controversy, but I really like that the article asks whether or not a television host will actually "scare" children as some parents claim or whether this is a case of adult being the ones with the problem. Most notably, one expert said,

I think what's happening is a number of adults do have prejudices, do have very negative views about disabled people, and instead of admitting the views are their own, they're projecting them on to their children and saying the children are doing this.

Ironically, the article does imply that such a parent outrage would be unlikely in the United States where "Kids are going to school with people with different abilities. " As much as I like say that I agree with that idea, I'm not sure that's fair. If we go with the logic that adults are the ones who are truly bothered by difference, then it shouldn't matter how much exposure children have to difference, parents are still likely to complain. I wish the article included more on the connection between parent objection and child reality, but I think I'll use it in my 170 class nonetheless.

If you're interested in the clip from the Today Show, here's the video.

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And because I think that everyone should run out and support texts that are banned in the name of ignornance, here is the show's website.

*There were also other complaints regarding the BBC and Burnell "forcing" parents to talk about disabilities with children before parents were ready and accusations that Burnell "flaunts" her disability and the BBC has "caved" to political correctness.