4 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Be A Bystander
Bystanders are people who witness an incident but choose not to intervene. What bystanders sometimes fail to understand is that if they don’t help, it might cause even more harm.
Pic: Pexels Creative Commons / Lukas
1. Bystanders are present everywhere
Bystanders are everywhere. What makes bystanders so common is that they’re people who follow the crowd. If one person sees someone in a fight and they choose to watch it the next person will choose to watch it until a person who isn’t as easily misled turns up. They will choose to stop it even though they might get harassed themselves in the process.
2. People choose not to interfere
One of the most common types of incidents that people choose not to interfere in is bullying. This may be because they may be feeling intimidated by the bully or never been in this situation so they don’t know exactly what to do.
In our generation, snitching is slowly becoming extinct as people become more and more scared to tell the truth. For instance, this may be because the bully might be their friend and if they tell on them, they fear they might become a social outcast.
3. Know when people are less likely to intervene
In cases like sexual harassment and domestic abuse, research shows its more likely for people not to intervene as people are uncertain as to what to do. There are cases of this happening unchecked at festivals and on the streets. The bystander effect was present during this scenario.
4. The victim’s feelings
What a lot of people fail to realise is that if they don’t act then nothing happens. Where there’s no movement, there’s no action and that’s the scary thing. Bystanders can unintentionally damage a person’s mental and emotional state. Feelings of depression, anger, resentment, anxiety, and self-consciousness are all possible when someone goes through a traumatic event alone.
By not being a bystander, you can support this person get through a difficult time, improving their chances at being happy.