That's Our Culture

A 78-year-old man is tossed like a rag doll on a highway in Connecticut. He lays motionless on the ground, bleeding, and alone. That is to say, except for the dozens of citizens driving right past him. One man on a scooter circled around the body, taking pictures on his mobile phone. No one bothered to call for help, and by the time help did arrive, it was far too late. The man had already died.
What does this story tell us? Old men should watch where they are walking? Men on scooters have great hand-eye coordination? Or that people did not care enough to use their cell phone (which most everyone has nowadays) to call the police and get this man help? He died, not because of his clumsiness, but because people did not help him.
On Saturday, January 31, my car rolled three times on my way to Finley, North Dakota, for a speech competition. I was able to get myself out, but was without help. I figured the best thing for me to do would be walk to Oriska, which was four miles south. A kind family arrived, and allowed me to use their phone and sit in their truck for warmth.
However, this is not what shocked me. While my car remained upside down as it had landed, dozens of vehicles stopped to rescue me. I never expected to watch people rush to my car to help. I had been helping a student out at BCN write a speech on the Bystander Effect, and proving that it did in fact occur. After my incident, I could no longer help her.
The Bystander Effect is when people will not help someone in trouble because of another person around the same vicinity. If there are several people around, then many will choose not to help. It is not their problem: It is the way we have been raised. Our culture has taught us to watch out for Number One. Keeping ourselves safe has been programmed into our brains from the time we are toddlers until the time we are 78.
Why is this? Why do we choose not to help someone in need? Is it just country folks that help? This phenomenon started in 1964, with Kitty Genovese. She was walking home one day and was viciously stabbed outside her apartment. The killer flocked off when people showed up, but no one called the police or tried to help Genovese. The killer returned and stabbed her once again, until she was officially dead.
People seem to sit back and watch as people die. All around us; we are all guilty. There is something wrong with the way our society is being raised. We no longer care enough for our neighbor and this is going to create a mess load of problems in the future. Think of it this way: If a 78-year-old man was tossed and you drove by, would you stop to help? What if that person was you?