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Sunrise regular offends families living with disabilities

Update: Weekend Sunrise reinstates the video with Prue MacSween's comments after having it removed earlier.

Weekend Sunrise has recently been the subject of a furious viewer campaign following comments by regular guest Prue MacSween who said children with disabilities should not be in classrooms with “normal” kids.

A Facebook site  branded “Prue MacSween and Channel 7 Should Apologise” now has over 2,300 members. It has forced Seven into acting with a segment on disabilities planned to air this weekend.

MacSween was appearing in the regular “All-Stars” debate segment in which the topic was a Bundaberg school teacher who was suing the government over her damaged larynx, after constant yelling in order to control a composite class of Year 6 and 7 at Thabeban State School.

During the discussion on July 11, MacSween said children with special needs should be separated from other students.

“What about the kids who are quite normal and adequately able to understand? They’re being held back. It’s like girls going into a schoolroom for bloody boys. Boys are so retarded, they keep them back,” she said.

MacSween said there should be somewhere for special needs kids to be properly trained before being integrated.

The comments outraged parents of children with disabilities. A Facebook page quickly grew with furious comments.

Said one member, “As a mother of a 5 year old daughter with special needs, who is embarking on her journey into primary school next year I was incensed and upset by these comments from Ms Macsween, and couldn’t believe the attitude of the co-host Andrew O’Keefe as he laughed and did nothing to moderate or distance Channel 7 from what she was saying.”

On her Twitter feed MacSween has since said:

“I apologise to those people who were offended by my remarks on Weekend Sunrise, however, you have misunderstood what was said.

“The report said the teacher had 31 special needs children in a mixed class with kids who had no disability.

“She had damaged her voice screaming. I said such children shouldn’t be taught together under 1 teacher as this would disadvantage all.

“I stand by this remark. I then said it would be good to intergrate them if there was more teaching support.

“This is a highly emotional issue and I appreciate the suffering of parents with children with special needs.”

So far MacSween has made no apology on the show.

Adam Boland, Director of Morning Television, who returned to work from a break yesterday, has since written on the Facebook page to advise of a dedicated segment to air this Saturday to discuss the difficulties of living with disabilities.

Boland told TV Tonight, “Live television is always unpredictable. But clearly, Pru offended many parents with her remarks. Rather than just file their complaints, we’d rather hear their view too.

“I’m hoping the segment this coming weekend shines light on an issue largely ignored by the mainstream media – allowing viewers to make an informed judgement.”

The segment is expected to include representatives from the Facebook site.

MacSween, who heads up her own communications company, Verve Communications, continues as a regular on the Seven show.

UPDATE: The YouTube video has now been removed by Seven. A previous video hosted on Weekend Sunrise site for June 11th has also been removed.

UPDATE: 2: Sunrise reinstates the video it took down and can now be seen here.

31 Responses

  1. Poor Prue,
    There are three ways of becoming disabled.
    Some people are born with a disability,
    some people acquire a disability,
    Some people disable themselves with their BS attitude.

  2. WTF does Prue MacSween know about children with disabilities. I fought for integrated classes in the 80’s. Her attitude is shameful! Her words are hurtful to every Australian disabled child & parent that wants, No needs a fair go in life.

    Prue I truly feel sad for your outdated and ill informed remarks. Step into the 21st Century & realise equality is Now

  3. I would also like to address Dan’s comments re this issue. I would firstly like to ask what his/her definition of ‘special needs’ is and why he/she seems to equate ‘special needs’ with behavioural issues. I’d also like to remind Dan that these are children Ms Macsween’s comments are referring to and we have a right to be upset about them. Until you have taken on the 24hr care of a child in this situation you can never know what it is like for us nor why we are so protective of our children. Call us spoiled complainers if you wish, but frankly as a volunteer, I would have thought that your work overseas would have given you the compassion for those less fortunate (even here in Australia). A pity that it hasn’t.

  4. This woman I’d watched needs an education on the ‘proper’ sense of equality with people living with disabilities. Instead of throwing rocks at people’s feet like that. She looks set to destroy her career by half-apologizing. And possibly a misandry towards boys.

    The subject they’re covering is not an easy one to deal with and the way I see it is offensive and totally unbalanced, in the name of Weekend Sunset whoops Sunrise.

    I think for any person who has celebrity to sort of drop rocks at somebody else’s feet like that — there’s things you should really just keep your mouths shut on. There’s things that should just be left alone.

    P.S. O’Keefe laughs like a madman, Is he for real or in la-la land.

  5. Unfortunately, Prue cannot say she was misquoted, she miscommunicated her opinion as she heads up a communications company.

    Whilst I disagree with what she said (and Dan for that matter), these tv forums of pruile intellect should never be treated with any credence. Sunrise/Today and even ABC2 Breakfast program showcase opinions to attract ratings, not rational debate.

    We need to realise that people are affected by words. I give the assumption that Prue meant what she said, and I have taken offence to them. Someone stated that we should be thick skinned, then took offence to what someone said. Which demonstrates that we all have feelings (not whether someone is right or wrong). I respects yours, so please respect mine. I respect Prue’s opinion, but it is wrong.

  6. It’s interesting that an article about a public commentator’s intolerance has brought out intolerance in some comments. Really, is it so hard to to feel empathy for others, lest we walk in their shoes? I have a “normal” son who’s benefited from having classmates from all sorts of backgrounds and abilities. It’s what helps shape the child into a mature, compassionate and outward looking adult.

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