Bystanding, or rather, the bystander effect is a psychological phenomenon in which a person, a group, an institution or even a nation does not aid one in need. One of the most startling events that brought awareness to this social occurance was Kitty Genovese's murder in front of her own apartment street while her neighbors watched. No, human beings do not even care for someone that is right in front of them, needing help as shown by the following footage in New York, a cosmopolitan city:
An injured person is not helped at all, and the only time it is is when it has respectable clothes on. So, it is not a problem of distance, it is a mental block in our heads that we can not get involved, especially relating to social status. These are not recent cases. Throughout history, there has been many: the most famous and well-known being the Holocaust. Yes, while the Jews were being worked and gassed to death many people watched, even nations, probably because they thought that it would be resolved by someone else or they simply did not care for the abuse. Few German citizens stood up even if a lot of them thought it was wrong, because "one person can not do anything".
What I will start doing is noticing my surroundings regarding to genocide. I will raise awareness, and in vacations from Junior to Senior year I might travel to somewhere in Africa with a humanitarian program. We need power in people, because if only one in millions step up, of course it will be ineffective. We need governmental help, to organize troops and services. Although, in my case specifically, my government is corrupt and can not even figure it out in Brazilian territory alone. Greed and pride control people, and here they only care about soccer. Instead of using the money to help the population, like favelas, they spend millions, if not billions, in the World Cup. It makes me sick to the stomach how people do not care for one another.
I found Genocide Watch, a good website that informs us of genocides now-a-days. It is up to date and very detailed, a site that I will certainly will be accessing weekly. I want to help, but it is not an easy step to take, especially when so many problems surround my own country. Should countries with more industrial power step up, specifically those permanently positioned to keep the world in peace? Should we, a developing country, take place? Although, Brazil has stepped up to the spotlight in Haiti, volunteering help and services to the people, which makes me proud. Another good website is End Genocide, which enables me to be informed, take action, and donate. Genocide has not ended, and is even taking place right now, but certainly I will take action with the resources that I have.
