The Bystander Effect: How To Help The Victim

On Saturday, October 29, 2009, a 15 year old female high school student was raped by a group of boys at Richmond High School. She was coming out of a school dance when she was forced to have sex. There were 20 onlookers who did not do even attempt to stop the crime. Spectators allegedly recorded the rape, but did nothing to help the person in despair. The assault went on for about two hours and no one came to aid (Wilkey). How could our society just watch someone be tortured and not do anything. A simple 911 call could have stopped this gruesome attack. Consequently, this impacting story is proof that the bystander effect truly exists. The bystander effect is “a social psychological phenomenon in which individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present” (Darley and Latane). When someone is lying on the ground needing help and there is a group of people in the area. They decide to disperse the responsibility to help the victim. In the end nobody helps the victim. Many people …show more content…
People argue that it runs the risk of injury, but a simple 911 call would not harm anyone. We do not have to be professional in order to help others. Although others disagree with many of the consequences of the bystander law, we should fully endorse that a bystander law should be placed but with different consequences. In closing, a bystander law will completely help our society unite, save lives, and encourage us to contribute to society in a good matter. In order for this to happen we highly need to speak out and use our voices to make this a reality. This has been an ongoing obstacle, that we need to execute. It will eliminate any racial prejudice to help others. An effortless 911 call can be the difference between life or death. What if you were the one in a situation like this? Would you want someone to help