Question Author
PART 3.
"Come on. Admit it. What did YOU think when you first looked at Karen Matthews? What did you feel when you read her story, looked at how she lived? Was there a part of you that sneered and looked down on her because she didn't fit the image of the perfect mum�all smiles, posh clothes, ordered house?
Wasn't there a part of you that looked at her and thought, "living on benefits" and "never heard of the word contraception"?
Shannon Matthews has been missing for nearly three weeks and, apart from her immediate neighbours, no one seems to give a toss. Not the right profile, you see. Not the right class. And the media aren't entirely to blame for that.
Trash
I was brought up in an area just like the one where Shannon lives. I've never been to the Dewsbury Moor estate but I know about the people who live there. I know their values, their lives, their circumstances.
And, yes, while, there's a hefty percentage of what we might slate as "trailer trash" on that estate, there are just as many good, decent, disadvantaged people who, because of a lack of education, money, opportunity and ambition, find themselves stuck there�people who love their kids every bit as much as Kate and Gerry McCann love Maddie but who can never show it in the way they do.
It's not often I'm ashamed of myself or the values of the country I live in. But this week I am. Because I'm one of those people who initially sneered at Karen Matthews�who thought Shannon's disappearance had to do with the way she lived.