The Bystander Effect – What, Why, How | Chennai NGO

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The Bystander Effect What, Why, How Chennai
NGO
Bystander Effect in Effect. Lets meet Akshay,
his day is about to get much crazier. Hes just
finished college and is on the way home.
However, just as he was about to climb into the
bus, he heard a loud crash, followed by the
smell of burning rubber. Akshay stepped back
from the bus and walked over to the accident site
unfolding nearby, which was already surrounded
by people. It looked bad, the car seemed to have
hit a bike, and the biker looked to be
unconscious. While the scene lay before his eyes,
he wondered I should probably try to help but
the moment he tried to take a step, his mind
wandered Wait, if someone else is helping,
wouldnt I be in the way? What would I even do!?
What will these people think if I just try to
help with no knowledge or training? He looked
around, no one stepped forward to help, what was
going on? It had been fifteen minutes, and no
one had moved. Luckily by this time, the
ambulance had arrived because the hospital was
nearby. And who had called the ambulance? The man
in the car who had hit the victim to begin with.
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What is the Bystander effect? What if everyone
around Akshay had similar thoughts? What is this
effect that could keep a kind person from
offering help? Lets take a closer look. The
bystander effect is a social effect where a
person is less likely to take action or offer
help in a situation when they are surrounded by
people. We will be taking a closer look at the
specifics on what causes this effect, and how to
avoid it. Specifics of the Bystander effect. The
bystander effect is surprisingly not a case of
human apathy (although it is involved), but
rather the product of human social behavior. When
a group is present in the event of an emergency
without a clear leader in place, the
responsibility to handle this event is spread
amongst every person present. This diffused
responsibility is negligible when each person
only feels a small share. Bystander Effect
Bystander Effect In such a situation, an
observer will also be conditioned to behave in a
socially acceptable way. This is further
reinforced by the fact that since no one has
stepped forward or reacted to the situation,
people might think its not too serious despite
how it looks and no action is needed. The
situation is far too chaotic for normal people to
have the kind of training one would expect to
have. It is not easy to break this when youre
also caught in the same, unless How to Avoid
the Bystander effect You already have! It will
be much harder for you or anyone to be caught up
in the bystander effect if you are aware of the
effect when it happens. Another thing you can do
is learn first aid from ALERT to take on the
responsibility of a First-responder, and youll
never be a bystander in a road accident ever
again! If youre the victim and manage to stay
conscious, single out a person and ask them to
help you. This focuses the responsibility
involved and can make a person act to help you,
breaking the bystander effects hold. Is it
always the case? The bystander effect is hardly
all-powerful. It is simply a product of a lack of
awareness and knowledge on how to properly
handle certain emergency situations coupled with
programmed social norms that must be ignored. If
there was only one person in the vicinity, then
the bystander effect does not apply and that
person will act to help you because there is no
one else to share the responsibility. These
days, many first responders trained by ALERT at
our online First Aid Workshop have set an
amazing example. The bystander effect may still
be in
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place, but as more people train to be first
responders, less people will fall victim to its
effect, especially the accident victim. So, if
youre dedicated to helping your fellow human and
wish to overcome the bystander effect, get your
first aid training at ALERT! Join us for our
online First Aid Chennai NGO Workshop this
Saturday, every Saturday. Its free! Register Now