Mike DomitrzPresident, Author, and Speaker on Respect, The Center for Respect, Inc. · Author & Speaker on Respect for Schools, Corporations, & the Military since 1990 (has reached

Don't stand by. Choose to care and take action!

4 Oct 2023 · 1 min

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In this short monologue, the speaker outlines the classic description of the bystander effect—people are more likely to intervene when alone than when in a crowd. He then declares the phenomenon a myth, arguing that the real determinant of action is whether an individual cares about the victim. Using a hypothetical scenario where the victim is a loved one, he asserts that anyone would intervene regardless of the crowd, concluding that education should stop teaching the bystander effect because it misrepresents human motivation.

Chapters

Here's what the bystander effect says. If you haven't heard of it, it says that if you walked into a situation and you were the only one seeing something awful happen to another person, and nobody else was there, you would do something. However, if you walked into that same situation, there's a crowd there doing nothing. You will not do anything either. Now, do you think the bystander effect is a legit thing? Yes or no? So I've got news for you. It has no credibility at all. It's a myth. Education should stop talking about it because I can prove it wrong every day. People like well, how can you prove it wrong? Here's the deal. If Aaron, the one being being harmed was your loved one, would you break through that crowd to do what you've got to do to get your loved one? Yes or no? Yes. So it was never about the bystander effect. It was whether you chose to care about another human being or not.