The Shocking Truth About the Bystander Effect

Everyone should have a chance to view this video. It is alarming to see how some people will react to a dire situation. You will see a behavior called the bystander effect. Perhaps if more people view this video, there will be a lesser chance of the bystander effect occurring.

The link to the MSNBC News video is as follows:

video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm

This video created many emotions within me. I do understand the bystander effect and what it is, however, I do not quite understand why or how a person would let themselves submit to it. I was shocked at the reactions of most of the people observing the little girl screaming for help. Some of them walked passed and never gave a second or even a first glance.

The actors in the video portrayed a kidnapping. It just didn't seem like the type of situation that a person could disregard. In my opinion, I don't think I would have assumed that this man was a parent dealing with an unruly child. Everything going on was very questionable.

Despite my opinion, people made this assumption anyhow. It was really hard to watch people just walking past and ignoring a little child screaming for help. She was even yelling that the man who was taking her was not her father. To say the least, I think that those people could have reacted in a much better way. They even could have done so without risking their own lives. Perhaps by simply confronting the man and asking him why the child was claiming he wasn't her parent, would discourage his actions or at least provide an opportunity to get a better perspective of what was going on. Even obtaining a better view and description of the man and girl could have helped if the situation were real. They could have called the police or simply kept watching to see if the situation escalated. This is especially true if the individual passing by initially had any suspicion of the situation at hand.

It was relieving to see the three young men take action on behalf of this defenseless little girl. The elderly woman calling the police was taking action as well. Good for them! I believe that we all should be watching out for one and other, especially those who are less able than we are. I feel that I would have confronted the man or called the police. I definitely would not have let the child out of my sight until the police had arrived. How could someone walk by something that could be potentially tragic and not react at all? It puzzles me. I would think that having that sort of unconfirmed suspicion about whether or not a little girl was being kidnapped, and doing nothing about it, would be terribly detrimental to one's conscience.

After watching this video, I feel a little less confident in my fellow humans. I am of small stature and someone larger than me with ill intent in mind could most likely overpower me with ease. Would anyone react on my behalf? If that situation was ever to occur, I would be hoping that someone with as much courage as the men who attempted to save the little girl in the video were passing by.

People need to ask themselves one question when witnessing a situation like this. What if I don't help? Somebody could have lived. Don't endanger your own life if you are not equipped to help physically, but at least do something! Call the police, get a description, get other people to help, or write down a license plate number. Anything can be helpful.

This is really something to think about, especially if you have children. They need to be made aware of what to do if someone tries to take them. They need to know to scream as loud as they can that this person is not their parent and that they are being kidnapped. Teach them to fight if someone grabs them. I am sad to say this, but maybe those people affected by the bystander effect would be more motivated to react if they were more certain that the child was being stolen, unfortunately, they also may not be.