Prev
Next

There are children dying - a bit of perspective please

Janice Petersen

by Janice Petersen

12 Feb 05:35am

Must Reads

The Punch is moving house - this is a caption

The Punch is moving house

385

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this? - this is a caption

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?

122

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming” - this is a caption

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”

251

Filed under: Children, Chrissie Swan, Human Rights, Society

67 comments

I was recently asked for my thoughts on fellow expectant mother Chrissie Swan’s mea culpa. Star of reality television, Logie darling, she that doles out down homey advice in the kind of warm, engaging tone all wannabe gal pals should study as the gold standard.

Chrissie Swan didn't do this. Photo: AP

The weekly, suburban meditation of her fears, failings and foibles attracts equal parts praise and scorn. From daring to raise fat kids to the pitfalls of the inner city hipster. All manner of tidbits she coughs up apparently warrant further discussion.

Well, unfortunately for the mother of two and to the delight of the gossip mags and the Twittersphere, Chrissie was papped doing two things at once - smoking and being pregnant.

A couple of things struck me about this whole saga.

The first is just how dangerously additive nicotine is.

No right minded mother wants to put her child in harm’s way. Chrissie herself has told us that. To have that pure, unadulterated motherly instinct ruled null and void by a pinky sized cylinder of shrivelled up leaves and chemicals is distressing.

Losing control of your will, discipline and to knowingly jeopardise the health of yourself, your baby and others is reason enough to never inhale tobacco.

Mother knows best… most of the time. Unfortunately the wonder of nurturing and supporting new life doesn’t magically make mums immune from doing dumb stuff.

There’s perhaps no greater insult than being labelled, “a bad mother”. It paints a person as selfish, uncaring and toxic. Traits that in any other person are generally tolerated in small doses but seem to defy the laws of nature when shown in a mum.

The other thing that struck me in this mini quagmire was that, well, I don’t really care what Chrissie Swan does. The torrent of vitriol and outrage directed at her unsettles me much more than any feelings of wrong she might be guilty of.

Maybe it’s the worthy SBS journalist in me, but every weeknight I present a dose of reality…and not the Chrissie Swan version of reality TV.

We’re not on a mission to brighten peoples’ day but we do offer a balanced insight into major events affecting real people.

Seeing innocent children orphaned, gruesomely maimed and mostly mourned for in the Syrian crisis, viewing Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafsai wounded after being shot point blank in the head by the Taliban for daring to campaign for equality, the ever present threat of war from long time, unyielding foes and observing the universal, vacant stare people get when they’ve seen too much, hurts.

It’s a look I see almost daily in our bulletins. It’s usually at the end of a story which has detailed some sort of atrocity or heinous malefaction. It’s often a kid who’s been too busy surviving to have showered or had a decent meal.

They just stare. The last flicker of life force snuffed out in a final act of whatever injustice they’ve borne witness to.

That’s what makes me indignant.

That’s what raises my ire.

And that’s what provides a startling counterpoint to Chrissie Swan and her bad habits.

Comments on this post will close at 8pm AEST.

Most commented

67 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • TChong says:

      05:35am | 12/02/13

      On behalf of Chrissies Public Relations company, a heart-felt thanks for giving her more publcity, and allowing the PR team to add another 0 to the end of the invoice.

      Reply

    • Pedro says:

      09:26am | 12/02/13

      Maybe she can spend the extra $$ on a personal trainer - not sure what kill her first - the morbid obesity or the cancer sticks.
      Still when it happens we won’t have to endure more tawdry B grade celeb apologies when she gets caught being a hypocrite - again.
      London to a brick says she’s still puffing away.

    • Sam says:

      09:55am | 12/02/13

      Next week, why Pol Pot was worse than Chrissie Swan smoking.

    • fml says:

      12:13pm | 12/02/13

      Super [to Patty & Selma]: Ladies, please don’t tell me you’re smoking in a government building. Because that is precisely the kind of infraction that can cost a couple of sisters their promotion.

      Homer: I’ll never forgive myself for this.

      Super: Wait a minute! Those are yours, sir?

      Homer: [monotone] Yes. [coughs] I am in flavor country.

      Super:  Both of them?

      Homer:  It’s a big country.

      Super: Ladies, I apologize. And you, sir, are worse than Hitler.

    • Pattem says:

      12:17pm | 12/02/13

      @Sam,  What did Pol Pot smoke?

      wink

    • Chillin says:

      12:35pm | 12/02/13

      @Pattem

      Polish Cannabis

    • Testfest says:

      04:59pm | 12/02/13

      Is it just me, or did this whole article boil down to a journalist saying “Chrissie Swan? Hah! First World Problems.”

    • Sahara says:

      05:41am | 12/02/13

      Obviously smoking while pregnant is not desirable. However, while it increases the chances of something affecting the baby those probabilities are infinitely small in the first place so there is a high likelihood that the baby will not really be affected.

      However, the PC brigade came out firing on all cylinders with their condemnation and bile.

      What Swan should have done is had an abortion. Rather than the unlikely event of perhaps doing some small harm to the child she should have just had it killed outright.

      That same PC crowd currently baying for her blood would have then came out in support of her rights as a women to have total control of her body.

      Reply

    • SZF says:

      08:49am | 12/02/13

      +1 Sahara, nicely put.

      Smoking while pregnant is stupid, potentially dangerous and probably shows a lack of application/willpower on Swan’s part. At the very least it lessens any respect I would have held for her.

      Still…she doesn’t deserve to be castigated as King Herod and Joseph Mengele’s love child.

      It’s a matter between her, her OBG and “if” anything happened as a result, her child. It’s NOT a valid reason for all the faux outrage-porn that’s currently circling the bowl of public “opinion”.

      Frankly, I hope she names the kid Winfield just to see the reaction.

    • AdamC says:

      09:05am | 12/02/13

      I mentioned the apparent moral disconnect vis-a-vis smoking while pregnant and aborting the ‘pregnancy’ to a couple of female friends of mine over lunch. Their indignant response suggested some cognitive dissonance on their part. (Note: I hate how over-used that term is, but this would surely be a classic case of it?)

    • subotic says:

      09:33am | 12/02/13

      Obviously smoking while pregnant is not desirable.

      Unless you’re a pregnant Janice Petersen, in which case you’re “Smmmmmokin’” regardless…

    • NSS says:

      03:19pm | 12/02/13

      The outrage level is/was inappropriate. No,smoking whilst pregnant is not desirable and neither is unplanned pregnancy, but guess what, both happen because people have free will and are fallible.

      What bothers me far more are calls to have “misbehaving” pregnant women (ie risky habits/addictions to the unborn) locked up for the “safety of the baby.” Jesus H. That’s about as close to the Taliban’s female controlling ideology (whom we are fighting as oppressive) as I’ve heard in this country. Drinking and smoking are not illegal. Worrisome and irresponsible yes, but no illegal.  Drugs of addiction are a different story, but these women need help, not imprisonment.

      Agree that the tut- tutting is mind-bogglingly hypocritical from some quarters.

    • BC says:

      05:57am | 12/02/13

      Nicely put. I think Malala being shot will weaken the taliban (they don’t get a
      capitol t) more than anything else. Onya, Malala !

      Reply

    • Chillin says:

      06:15am | 12/02/13

      Apparently smoking is no longer bad.  Especially if it’s done by a media person.  Everyone else who smokes is toxic and poisoning our personal health, but not if it’s a person in the media.  Prank calls that result in someone’s death are also inexcusable, unless someone in the media does it.  Do what we say, not what we do.

      A couple of points not mentioned is that Chrissie Swan could be damaging the health of her child and the second point is that even Chrissie Swan thinks what she’s doing is bad.

      Oh look, kids are being murdered in war torn parts of the world.  See over there, look, it’s a distraction.  I’m distracting you.  Look over there.  See!!!

      It’s perfectly acceptable to judge your behaviour, but don’t dare judge ours.

      Reply

    • marley says:

      08:17am | 12/02/13

      I think it’s more about putting things in perspective - sure, what Chrissie did is bad, but it scarcely warranted the level of attention it got, when you compare it with the risks children in other parts of the world are facing.  It might be worth a “tut, tut” - not an “oh my god, the sky is fallling.”

    • Smidgeling says:

      09:07am | 12/02/13

      NO.

      You cannot use “but kids in other countries are being killed” as a way to make a pregnant mother smoking any less bad (granted, the bogan filth in Canberra do it without being torn to shreds in the media…).

      If worse things happening in the world elsewhere is justification for someone doing something unacceptable in a 1st world country, then surely people like Chris Brown can be excused.

      Oh wait, he can’t. At all. Ever. And neither can Chrissie Swan for whatever crap reason you wat to try using. And I know the ‘sisterhood’ will try crucifying me for comparing domestic violence to smoking while pregnant….but whatever. Unacceptable behaviour needs to be addressed irrespective of apparent severity.

    • Chillin says:

      10:53am | 12/02/13

      @marley

      I replied, there wasn’t an abusive word in my reply, but obviously you are protected from intelligent alternative opinion.

    • gary says:

      11:14am | 12/02/13

      marley is indeed a protected species on here.

      I second your observation and experience.
      .

    • marley says:

      11:45am | 12/02/13

      @Chillin - I don’t think I’m protected at all.  I get into some fairly fractious debates from time to time, one way and another.  And I have certainly never whined to the moderators about any of it.  If I believe in something, I’m perfectly prepared to stand my ground and take my lumps, and I think you know that, really.

      A lot of comments disappear on the Punch - I’ve lost more than a few myself.  That doesn’t mean I think I was being censored, or that someone was being protected from my challenge.  It means I think a lot of stuff just gets lost.  Why not try again?

      Anyway, I agree with your points about smoking during pregnancy;  I just think that on a scale of 1 to 10, this incident ranks on the lower level of concerned compared to kids being shot.  I guess I only have so much outrage to expend.

    • Joel says:

      11:47am | 12/02/13

      @marley,

      This two big issues I take with this article is that firstly you don’t need to look outside Australia to get your perspective.

      And secondly, if Chrissie Swan was from a minority group then people would generally be congratulating her for bring up an important issue and you wouldn’t have Janice writing this article offering a global perspective on compleletley different and non related issues.

      Smoking and Pregnancy is a problem in Australia.  And it should be used to lead into a much bigger problem in Australia, which is taking Alcohol and drugs while pregnant.  The damage done to unborn children can last a life time.

    • Chillin says:

      01:36pm | 12/02/13

      I replied marley.

    • Kate Moore says:

      06:38am | 12/02/13

      Amen to that. Thank you for that dose of perspective. I wish a good deal more felt the same way.

      Reply

    • Tim says:

      06:54am | 12/02/13

      Wow,
      You’re going for the starving kids in Africa defence of Chrissie Swan?

      Face it, she rightly copped some abuse because she acts so self righteous on TV.
      In other news, we can do two things at once. Swan being chastised doesn’t mean that we don’t care about other suffering children around the world.

      Reply

    • lisa says:

      09:29am | 12/02/13

      Exactly.

      It’s like saying a little case of rape or incest here in Aust is nothing compared to the brutal gang rapes and pederasty of the current warzones. It’s still very wrong!

      In this advanced, well-informed nation, despite the fact that atrocities take place daily overseas, smoking while pregnant is basically indefensible.

    • Smidgeling says:

      10:20am | 12/02/13

      To be honest, were we really surprised anyway? It’s pretty obvious her lack of self control affects both herself and her children in multiple ways…

    • egg says:

      11:25am | 12/02/13

      I shudder to think how it must feel to be so perfect, and so utterly aware of your own perfection, that you feel justified judging people you don’t know over something that’s none of your business.

      Does it hurt, I wonder?

    • Smidgeling says:

      12:19pm | 12/02/13

      Egg: A little MLK Jr for you.

      “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

      if society as a whole doesn’t address poor behaviour it allows poor behaviour to become the norm.

    • Tim says:

      03:33pm | 12/02/13

      egg,
      yes I am perfect thanks.

      And if you can’t see the actions and hypocrisy of people like Swan as a bad thing then I can’t help you.

    • As a man from the sidelines says:

      07:07am | 12/02/13

      But don’t you see, its funny!

      Women judging other women, and telling pregnant women and mothers how to live is the best kind of troll bait there is.

      Reply

    • Chillin says:

      07:22am | 12/02/13

      Until tomorrow, when Tory will tell you how whites, men or guns are to blame.

    • As a man from the sidelines says:

      07:43am | 12/02/13

      That’d where Colin and “his” comments come in.

    • Colin says:

      07:45am | 12/02/13

      @ Chillin

      “...whites, men or guns are to blame.”

      How apt your supposed jest is: Most of the problems in the world ARE caused by these things.

      How blinded you are by your own prejudices, because being a white male you are right in the centre of a universe of white male power and you cannot even fathom anything else.

    • As a man from the sidelines says:

      08:08am | 12/02/13

      OMG, right on cue.

      Well done Colin.

    • bj says:

      08:09am | 12/02/13

      A pregnant person smoking isn’t that big of a deal, but neither is other people criticising her. Criticism is a part of life. Why do some people pretend that it only affects women or mothers?

    • bj says:

      08:09am | 12/02/13

      A pregnant person smoking isn’t that big of a deal, but neither is other people criticising her. Criticism is a part of life. Why do some people pretend that it only affects women or mothers?

    • Chillin says:

      08:17am | 12/02/13

      @Colin

      uh huh…

    • Tim says:

      08:22am | 12/02/13

      “you are right in the centre of a universe of white male power and you cannot even fathom anything else. “

      But wait a minute Colin, you’re right in the centre of that world as well. How can you fathom anything else?

      Quick boys, we need an emergency meeting of the Patriarchy. We’ve been infiltrated.

    • Colin says:

      09:05am | 12/02/13

      @  As a man from the sidelines says:

      “OMG, right on cue… Well done Colin.”

      Thank-you; my timing has always been impeccable grin

    • subotic says:

      09:28am | 12/02/13

      Quick boys, we need an emergency meeting of the Patriarchy. We’ve been infiltrated.

      Not by Colin we haven’t…..

    • Maude Flanders says:

      07:09am | 12/02/13

      Won’t somebody think of the children!

      Reply

    • subotic says:

      09:29am | 12/02/13

      Too busy thinking of Janice, actually….

    • king ghoolie says:

      07:24am | 12/02/13

      “daring to raise fat kids “
      You portray this as some kind of noble stand.

      Reply

    • Bonestar says:

      07:58am | 12/02/13

      put this into perspective, I live in Western Sydney and have never heard of a pregnant woman smoking let alone seen it. Chrissie is the first.

      Reply

    • k.marshall says:

      08:41am | 12/02/13

      @@@ Maybe it’s the worthy SBS journalist in me, but every weeknight I present a dose of reality…and not the Chrissie Swan version of reality TV.

      We’re not on a mission to brighten peoples’ day but we do offer a balanced insight into major events affecting real people.

      Love it.
      Seemed like a big beat up to me. It is said that any publicity is good publicity…but as I am not a Swann or Chrissy fan…it just makes me know that some publicity is mehhhh. 
      Gotta wonder if the tears are hormonal or there for show.

      Reply

    • Gerry W says:

      08:48am | 12/02/13

      The unborn child has no say if the mother smokes or drinks or takes drugs and has deformities or life threatening disease that’s why it is 100% unfair.

      Reply

    • The Free says:

      08:50am | 12/02/13

      Sorry, she’s a media personality who at times criticizes other people using her platform.  She did something stupid that society doesn’t condone, because the only thing society values more than women are babies.

      Tough Cookies!

      Fortunately for her, the women-can-do-no-wrong brigade can flying in to her defense.

      Reply

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      09:40am | 12/02/13

      Who the hell is Chrissie Swan? and “Why have I never heard of her?”

      Reply

    • gof says:

      10:42am | 12/02/13

      #Shane From Melbourne,
      “Who the hell is Chrissie Swan? and “Why have I never heard of her?””
      Well going by media reports she is an irresponsible, selfish, self centred person who has done something dastardly in the public eye. So all I know then, is that she can’t be related to the Hon. Mr Wayne Swan.

    • Shane says:

      09:49am | 12/02/13

      I don’t smoke, nor am I pregnant. But if I were, I’d smoke every time I went out in public. On principle.

      Reply

    • fml says:

      10:09am | 12/02/13

      all this talk about sweet, sweet tobacco is reminding me flavour country is only a couple of minutes away.

      Reply

    • Marnie says:

      10:29am | 12/02/13

      Like you, I don’t care what Chrissie Swan does. It doesn’t affect me, my family or my future children…I don’t care. I have more important things to worry about in this world.

      Reply

    • Pattem says:

      11:12am | 12/02/13

      Janice wrote: “The first is just how dangerously additive nicotine is. “

      Now Citric Acid E330 is a dangerous additive.

      Reply

    • Action required now says:

      11:36am | 12/02/13

      Janice,

      Unfortunatley you don’t have to look outside Australia to see children suffering.

      And if you read between the lines Gonski has made abundantley clear, if we in Australia don’t do something to fix these things and make our move now, those imagines that you see from overseas may end up happening right here in Australia.

      Australia may now be sowing the seeds of its own destruction.

      Reply

    • Esteban says:

      11:53am | 12/02/13

      I am more upset about the children than the writer or anyone else contributing on the punch.

      Now that it is established that I am the most upset and compassionate person in Australia I am starting to feel good about myself and I think I am going to have a pretty good day.

      It is nice to achieve something positive so early in the day.

      Reply

    • lostinperth says:

      12:45pm | 12/02/13

      “There’s perhaps no greater insult than being labelled, “a bad mother”.”

      I can think of quite a lot actually. Anything remotely connected to sex and children makes “bad mother” look almost praiseworthy.

      Perhaps this is the sisterhood elevating motherhood to some kind of semi-divine status. Or another expectant mother who thinks that because she is pregnant, (which is a state that most female mammals achieve) then she and her pregnancy are unique or laudable.

      Or, as I really think, the media are so puffed up on their own importance and so ready to criticise others that anything that effects their lives is newsworthy.
      People in glass houses and all that.
      Personally, a women I have never heard of smokes while pregnant - who cares?

      Reply

    • RELB says:

      12:53pm | 12/02/13

      People in this country is bored and looking for things to complain about. Unless this lady is smoking 5 boxes a day, I would not care… A few smokes will not say whether she is a good mother or not.

      I find amusing how people here is focused on complaining about pregnant women, but nobody cares that parenting skill seems to be missing. Aussie kids are growing up to be perverted young people without parents to give an example and dependants on the Australian government. Yet… everybody cares that this woman had a smoke…

      Reply

    • Ben says:

      12:59pm | 12/02/13

      No doubt I’m showing my age here but reading articles like these makes me hanker to the days when we had newsreaders like James Dibble and Brian Henderson. They were professional journalists who we liked and respected. Part of the reason for that was they were seen as neutral. They were simply giving us the facts.

      Nowadays there is a trend for newsreaders to tell us their thoughts about the story - in fact to become the story one might say. We have Mary Kostakidis, Janice Petersen and ABC newsreader Virginia Hausseger (the latter even has her own website), just to name a few. They too, like all contributors on Punch, have an opinion on just about everything and love to tell the world about it.

      The problem is that it raises a perception that their objectivity is compromised. Appearances are everything, and newsreaders are no exception. If I’m switching on the news - especially that of a public broadcaster - I like to watch someone who delivers the news in a professional and objective manner. Just the facts, as they say. But it seems those days are gone.

      Reply

    • Chillin says:

      01:26pm | 12/02/13

      My point precisely.  I guess there is no one left to teach them the way it’s done to begin with.  It’s no longer about presenting actual news, it’s about promoting your own personal political agenda.

    • fml says:

      02:21pm | 12/02/13

      You see what I like about the current generation as opposed to your generation is that we can tell the difference between a news paper and an online opinion blog…

    • subotic objects to being objective says:

      02:24pm | 12/02/13

      Janice Petersen doesn’t have a website, just a group of middle aged men on a forum wondering just how damn hot a newsreader can get before SBS News Hour needs a censorship rating…

    • Pattem says:

      04:09pm | 12/02/13

      @Subotic, you wrote: “Janice Petersen doesn’t have a website…”

      Boy, you most be so disappointed by that fact!

      Maybe you could start up a Janice Peterson fan-site.  smile

    • colroe says:

      03:09pm | 12/02/13

      I was going to ask, “Chrissie who?”  and “who gives a stuff”  but it has made the news and I am busily typing in response to a Punch piece…....??

      Reply

    • Bill Burrell says:

      03:18pm | 12/02/13

      Congratulations Janice…twice!

      Reply

    • Tanya says:

      03:20pm | 12/02/13

      Far more concerning than Chrissie Swan smoking whilst pregnant is the notion of her trying so desperately to negotiate with a media outlet to prevent publication of photographs she did not give them permission to take of her. They can argue till the cows come home that it was in the public interest because she is deemed to be a public figure who should lead by example, but I say, BULLSHIT to that. It was callous, tabloid style, money making, muck-raking and no, I don’t support smoking mothers.

      Reply

    • Nurse says:

      03:50pm | 12/02/13

      I worked with a fellow nurse once and she smoked while pregnant. Baby was healthy and normal weight on delivery.

      Reply

    • Testfest says:

      05:12pm | 12/02/13

      So I guess that means doctors should start prescribing cigarettes as a pregnancy supplement now?

      I hope you’re just trolling and are not really this stupid.

 
Sorry, comments are now closed for this article.

Facebook Recommendations

Read all about it

Punch live

Up to the minute Twitter chatter

ToryShepherd

ToryShepherd 19 May 13 10:27PM

@Cmdr_Hadfield @mattpturner Hope you have sweet views while you heal

Lucy Kippist

lucyjk 19 May 13 02:24PM

RT @HeatherSmithAU: Can living in another country change your life for the better? by @lucyjk on @newscomau f. moi http://t.co/E5Ma3kBut2

David Penberthy

penbo 19 May 13 01:02PM

@mooks83 sophisticated response. Think the kids parents saw it differently

David Penberthy

penbo 19 May 13 12:50PM

More class from 9's footy show, lampooning a baby that allegedly looks like Sterlo with a pic swiped from Facebook http://t.co/BGoYP6Pn68

See all tweets

Recent posts

The latest and greatest

The Punch is moving house

by The Punch Team

385

The Punch is moving house

Good morning Punchers. After four years of excellent fun and great conversation, this is the final post…

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?

by Hannah Harborow

122

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?

I have had some close calls, one that involved what looked to me like an AK47 pointed my way, followed…

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”

by Sarrah Le Marquand

251

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”

In a world in which there are still people who subscribe to the vile notion that certain victims of sexual…

Nosebleed Section

choice ringside rantings

From: Hasbro, go straight to gaol, do not pass go

Tim says:

They should update other things in the game too. Instead of a get out of jail free card, they should have a Dodgy Lawyer card that not only gets you out of jail straight away but also gives you a fat payout in compensation for daring to arrest you in the first place. Instead of getting a hotel when you… [read more]

From: A guide to summer festivals especially if you wouldn’t go

Kel says:

If you want a festival for older people or for families alike, get amongst the respectable punters at Bluesfest. A truly amazing festival experience to be had of ALL AGES. And all the young "festivalgoers" usually write themselves off on the first night, only to never hear from them again the rest of… [read more]

Light weight

Gentle jabs to the ribs

Superman needs saving

Superman needs saving

Can somebody please save Superman? He seems to be going through a bit of a crisis. Eighteen months ago,… Read more

28 comments

Newsletter

Read all about it

Sign up to the free News.com.au newsletter