Another excellent article by Gary Mason of The Globe and Mail; this on the sensational and sad situation recently of the toddler who was critically injured by two vehicles, then left to die by passers-by until an elderly woman came to the toddler’s side and called for help.
When reading tragic stories of the “Bystander Effect”, I am reminded of the rather trite advice once given to a friend while attending a corporate team build session.
The session leader was teaching participants to be more assertive in the workplace. Part of the challenge was to combat the ‘herd mentality’ when people work together in groups. In a general way, I suspect, the session leader was referring to the problem of Bystander Effect.
For example, taught the session leader, if you’re ever in trouble, don’t bother calling for “help”.
Instead, the session leader suggested, yell out “Fire!” because:
· a fire in close quarters creates the possibility of personal harm to each person who hears the cry; and
· this forces each listener to act proactively, either by running away or coming to you to assess the level of danger they face as a result of the fire.
Gregory Chang
ACCLO Exec
