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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.

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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. I saw this on TV (I was flicking channels I swear…I don’t watch sunrise) and I thought what she said was very uneducated, improper and disciminatory. Her opinion on “these people” shows the bile in her blood. She was left to keep ranting digging her grave with each sentence. There are things called Human Rights and Access and Equity.

  2. @Dan I don’t even dare to imagine what life is like for children with disabilities with 3rd world and developing countries. Yes I would love to volunteer in other countries to help out these people but obviously, with the responsibilities I have here in Australia as a carer to a 5 year old with special needs that is going to be impossible in the foreseeable future. I am sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience going to school alongside students with special needs, if forgive me for making the assumption, but it sounds as though the classrooms were understaffed and there was a massive lack of support. I do take offence at being called a “spoilt complainer”. I know we have fantastic support in Australia for our unique children (although there is always room for improvement), but that is not the issue the group is upset about. It’s about the ignorant comments made but a social commentator in a public, nationally broadcast forum, referring to them as “retards” and talking about segregating them from “normal” children.
    Finally as for being “thin skinned” – trust me, we have developed thick skin a long time a go with the path that life has taken us. Perhaps read some of the comments on the Facebook page about some of the issues we deal with on a day to day basis. And as I said before, got a life, so thanks.

  3. Also disappointing that we can’t see the feed. I doubt seven will ever let us see this. What happened to freedom of choice channel 7. I hope mediawatch gives Prue and the show a bake.

  4. I never respond to people when they make comments about what I have writen on this site but I will this time, To you Laura Stapel, you know nothing about me and have made assumptions about how I have lived my life! I will tell you this, I have volunteered and worked with people of all ages all around the world, South Africa, Mexico, India, just to name a few! now if you think people have it tough in this country then maybe it is you that needs to volunteer in other countries where people actually do, do it tough. Some people in this country are spoiled complainers, who don’t realise how good they have it. I also went to a school where they had just implemented integrated classes and I can tell you that it was so disruptive that it was impossible to learn anything as the teacher spent all of her time with the children with social and learning problems, it didn’t work! As I said before thinned skinned, get a life!

  5. I would also like to state that it is in poor taste that the Channel 7 legal department targets my video which was clearly about educating the 2400 group members with facts, when so many other videos have stayed up so long for nothing other than entertainment.

    Has Channel 7’s legal team written about the Lisa Wilkinson/Prue MacSween fight?

  6. As one of the moderators of the group on facebook about this incident, (refer website link), I think it is important to point out that Prue MacSween’s twitter comments, (purposely not using the word “apology”), do not line up with what she said on the segment that is now removed from youtube as well.

    Please also note that I have the video and if you would like a copy of it please feel free to email me.

  7. Great article and great group on facebook.

    Ms Macsween didnt just offend families of special needs children, she offended the people themselves with special needs and put them down and basically thinks they have almost no place in ‘her’ perfect world. a world where she has chosen not to have children…. she also made disgusting, crass comments about all boys. this woman needs to be educated. she is ignorant.

  8. To Dan. ” People need to get a life and stop being so thinned skinned. Prue was correct in her comments, people need to listen to what was actually said.”

    Two points for you:

    We do have a life, it’s fantastic life, and it’s enhanced and made even more special by our amazing kids.

    We did actually listen to what was said, and if you go to our facebook Page and read the transcript of what she said you will see why we are so angry about her words.

    facebook.com/topic.php?topic=213&post=1058&uid=134329293268218#!/group.php?gid=134329293268218

    I highly recommend to Dan (and to Prue as well) to sign up and do some volunteer work at anyone of the Early Intervention centres run across Australia. I’m sure after a couple of hours you’ll understand why we are so passionate about defending our children and why we won’t go away until this issue is amended!

  10. As a person with a disability Prue deserves to be sacked from the programme and Weekend Sunrise should apologize and get a Slap on the wrist by the ACMA. Now Im an adult going to a normal school 2-3 days a week allowed me to ready myself to get ready to go into the community without the fear of being bullied and chastized just because I am in a wheelchair. Attending a normal class allowed me to understand other people and be accepted into the community.

  11. As soon as I hear anyone lump a certain societal group together and tag them I mentally switch off … unfortunately she’s been giving her mouth a good run without plugging in the brain for many years now. Though at least it proves that there’s no gender divide when it comes to moronic attitudes.

  12. She is only on the show to be controversial. Her comments are always offensive, it doesn’t seem to matter what she says. The best thing to do is turn off the telly when her segment comes on.

  13. I put Ms MacSween’s comments in low regard as I think seperating a certain group from others just further isolates them from everyday society.

    Whether people are gay, black, deaf, blind – everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity and be allowed to live a normal life – whatever ‘normal’ means these days.

    As someone who has suffered a hearing disability myself, I’m grateful my parents put me in a normal school filled with children from all walks of life – and yes a few with some disabilities themselves.

    W’re all people with real feelings and comments from Ms MacSween doesn’t help the cause of those wanting to make their own mark in life – in anyway they can.

  14. If you youtube search “Lisa Wilkinson and Prue MacSween” you’ll find a clip of the two bickering on Beauty and The Beast a good few years ago. Just watch what Prue says and does and you’ll be both turned off and then super interested in seeing more of this woman.

  17. I cannot express my disgust enough at this woman. I remember the way she was on Beauty and the Beast and she was the same then that she is now. She should apologise for making such derogatory statements and be taken off the airwaves permanently.

  18. that’s what happens when you get a so-called ‘communications expert’ commenting on issues she knows nothing about. I think she needs some media training.

  19. Pru can no longer continue to ignore so many people. To claim that we misunderstood her merely insults our intelligence. Families of children with special needs continually have to justify why their children are entitled to a specific placement in a classroom. Our ‘choices’ are also highly restricted. This is a basic right and should not be denied to anyone. It is important to realise that the term ‘special needs’ is such a broad one. It can also be applied to children officially recognised as falling into the category of ‘gifted and talented’. Therefore you cannot apply a one-size-fits-all approach. Every child must be considered individually and placed accordingly. I am a mum of a boy with special needs and I am offended by her comments.

  20. If anyone saw her hyberbolic anti-Labor comments prior-and-post the 2007 federal election, you’ll know what I mean. Now kindly take your Ayn Rand mindset and get off our screens.

  21. People need to get a life and stop being so thinned skinned. Prue was correct in her comments, people need to listen to what was actually said.

  24. Boys and girls are in classrooms together all over this country, why does she sound like the natural state for a classroom is segregation based on gender? Not where I went to school. Then she wants to segregate those with disabilities, in what way does a deaf person hold other students back? We had deaf students in our classes, they just had 1 person up front doing sign language. There are different sorts of “special needs” some require a dedicated teacher or maybe 1 or 2 kids per teacher, but others are just as capable of independent learning as anyone else and there is no reason to separate them just because they fit into some classification.

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