Such a hard one, this. I even have very mixed feelings about whether any of us should even be expressing an opinion at all. But we're supposed to be friends on the mudcat and I guess we're only doing what people all over the UK are doing in discussing this, especially those of us who have children of our own.

I don't want to get into the game of judging or condemning the parents, especially with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. I have my own opinions about their actions but I'm less concerned about that than I am about the nature of the coverage this is receiving.

Much of what we are seeing in the media is not news, but speculation and tabloids vying with each other to appear the most 'concerned'. None of this is going to help recover this poor child (I also have my own opinions about the prospects for that) but I do know that a lot of children are being frightened and disturbed by the comverage and I'm finding that unhelpful, to say the least.