Invisible in Plain Sight
The cost of the Bystander Effect
According to NBC News, a young man, a father of two young boys, waited over 15 minutes for help to arrive. Had someone intervened earlier, maybe the outcome would have been different. During that time, more than a dozen people walked past the scene—many observing, a few attempting to help—but no meaningful assistance arrived until it was too late.
I first learned about the Bystander Effect in a Criminology course at the University of Maryland. It blew my mind that we’ve known about this phenomenon since at least the 1960s, when it was first given a name, and yet we still haven’t learned our lesson.
See story here: NBC 10 News
After reading this, I went searching for anyone working to combat the Bystander Effect. I believe we all carry both good and bad within us, but that most people are far more good than bad. Like many of you, my news feed often leaves me drowning in awfulness.
I’m determined to bring some—any—good into all of it. The closest thing I could find was American College of Surgeons’ “Stop the Bleed” program. Take a course. Learn what to do in an emergency. Be the person who takes action when someone needs help.