Would YOU get involved?(Watch this)

[yankeeschic12324]

If you saw a child being abducted in broad daylight..would you do something?
Honestly, I would. If I can't take down/stop the abductor, I'd definately pick up my phone and call 911. It's shocking to see how many people did/didn't help. I would hope that more people would help(I know if it were my child, I would want every single person that can help to help)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/default.cdn...splaymode/1157

[Mattpat11]

I would think everyone would if they knew for sure. There is zero margin for error here. You don't want to run up and tackle the man only to find out it was his daughter pitching a fit.

[chanman7483]

I forgot what the phenomen is called but this is the same thing as when a girl was getting robbed outside of an apartment complex and everyone heard her screams and even looked out the window at her.. but no one did anything because they assumed someone else would call the police, or that someone else would be doing something about it.

[Arod for President]

They just stood there?!?! All of them. I cannot believe it. Id freak if I was one of those parents.

[RhodeyYankee2638]

Theres a lot of stuff similar to this happening.

Off topic, but theres a pretty big suit in RI of a little boy who called 911 twice after his mom took a seizure, they thought it was a joke although the kid said "my mommy is sick, my mommy is dying." The mother died. Its better safe than sorry, always

[yanksrule69]

Theres a lot of stuff similar to this happening.

Off topic, but theres a pretty big suit in RI of a little boy who called 911 twice after his mom took a seizure, they thought it was a joke although the kid said "my mommy is sick, my mommy is dying." The mother died. Its better safe than sorry, always

I saw a news piece on something similar, or maybe this case, the 911 lady was awfully rude to the little kid and he called back more than once and she never sent police to even check why he was "pranking" them.

I would think everyone would if they knew for sure. There is zero margin for error here. You don't want to run up and tackle the man only to find out it was his daughter pitching a fit.

I think that is a big part of it - you really have to be sure of what you are seeing. Like if you saw someone reaching in the open sunroof of a car grabbing something would you say something because it could be the owner or it could be a thief?

[twinks34]

I forgot what the phenomen is called but this is the same thing as when a girl was getting robbed outside of an apartment complex and everyone heard her screams and even looked out the window at her.. but no one did anything because they assumed someone else would call the police, or that someone else would be doing something about it.

Kitty Genovese?

[BrooklynBotz]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/200604...JlYmhvBHNlYwM-
flawed study. i didn't think the girls seemed to be in trouble either.

[NyQuil]

Kitty Genovese?

The bystander effect.

[DontHateOnNumber2]

I'd want to make sure it wasn't a family member just repremanding the child, but if someone just runs up and snatches the kid I think I'd beat the jerk down and if anyone freaks out and asks what I'm doing and I explain, I'm sure I'll get a little bit of help as well.

[chanman7483]

Kitty Genovese?

I think that's it, it sounds very familiar.

[RhodeyYankee2638]

I think that's it, it sounds very familiar.

shes the lady that got stabbed inn NYC, and her neighbors turned up the TV and didnt help her

[chanman7483]

shes the lady that got stabbed inn NYC, and her neighbors turned up the TV and didnt help her

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about - I can't remember if she was getting killed or robbed... but same thing, they assumed someone else would call the cops.. others, like you said, just ignored her.

[NYYFAN]

It sent the Seinfeld group to jail for one year...

[PettittesPrincess]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/200604...JlYmhvBHNlYwM-
flawed study. i didn't think the girls seemed to be in trouble either.

The girl in the footage just looks likes a misbehaving child.

[NyQuil]

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about - I can't remember if she was getting killed or robbed... but same thing, they assumed someone else would call the cops.. others, like you said, just ignored her.

Yup thats what the bystander effect is.

[Mattpat11]

I'd want to make sure it wasn't a family member just repremanding the child, but if someone just runs up and snatches the kid I think I'd beat the jerk down and if anyone freaks out and asks what I'm doing and I explain, I'm sure I'll get a little bit of help as well.

If someone swooped in and snatched the kid, I'd like to think everyone would try to help.

[CoyoteYankee]

The girl in the footage just looks likes a misbehaving child.

I agree. Her performance wasn't all that convincing. If she let out some more high pitched shrieks or something I might have believed it. At first I thought I'd be horrified at people walking by but even though she was saying "You're not my dad" I could still totally see how people might have just thought it was just a child acting out. Maybe if he had a mask on, picked her up and put his hand over her mouth while running down the street or something it would have worked better. I love those kids that stepped up to the plate though.

[JeterRodriguezSheff]

I wouldnt have charged like the kids who did because I to be honest didnt find it convincing either, but i would at least walk over there and ask what was going on, and work from there. If there was a convincing abduction, if I was with people we would surround the guy. If I was alone, I would take a second to analyze the situation(provided that I have time too), see what the guy looks capable of, anything around on the street that could help me, and just try to get one step ahead of him before I do anything and then I would confront him. Now if somebody just picked a kid up and started running with the kid in obvious distress, then I would go the not think at all and tackle/kick his ass anyway possible route, that the kids looked like they were going to do.

[buckyjacobson]

I wouldnt have charged like the kids who did because I to be honest didnt find it convincing either, but i would at least walk over there and ask what was going on, and work from there.....

Exactly even if I thought it might just be the kid being a brat, I'd try to make sure. Imagine doing nothing because you had some doubts and then finding out it was real?

[SheffRocks11]

I wouldnt have charged like the kids who did because I to be honest didnt find it convincing either, but i would at least walk over there and ask what was going on, and work from there. If there was a convincing abduction, if I was with people we would surround the guy. If I was alone, I would take a second to analyze the situation(provided that I have time too), see what the guy looks capable of, anything around on the street that could help me, and just try to get one step ahead of him before I do anything and then I would confront him. Now if somebody just picked a kid up and started running with the kid in obvious distress, then I would go the not think at all and tackle/kick his ass anyway possible route, that the kids looked like they were going to do.

same here...

[NelsonMuntz]

I forgot what the phenomen is called but this is the same thing as when a girl was getting robbed outside of an apartment complex and everyone heard her screams and even looked out the window at her.. but no one did anything because they assumed someone else would call the police, or that someone else would be doing something about it.

Yep, they discuss this phenomenon in Tipping Point. Everyone just assumes that someone else will do something. You're more likely to act if you're the only one witnessing such an event.

[yankeeschic12324]

I forgot what the phenomen is called but this is the same thing as when a girl was getting robbed outside of an apartment complex and everyone heard her screams and even looked out the window at her.. but no one did anything because they assumed someone else would call the police, or that someone else would be doing something about it.

The Bystander Effect..basically the more people that are around, the less likely someone will do something(they will assume someone is already doing something when really, no one is doing anything). The Kitty Genovese case was horrible, I can't believe no one did anything. I would much rather have 12 people knowingly call, than everyone assuming someone called and no one did.

On Thursday, a woman lost her daughter in the mall(its a pretty decent sized mall with tons of people)and people were just watching her go crazy. My sister went through the stores looking for this 2 year old girl and I called mall security. There was one other person helping out trying to find her as well. Luckily they found her unharmed and the woman was extremely grateful that we helped out.

[Luvtino]

I would help any child that I felt was in danger. Better to be safe than sorry.

[#1PaFan]

I would help any child that I felt was in danger. Better to be safe than sorry.

Even Brad? THAT child has been wandering completely lost around here for several years now.

[krystl]

We teach our kids to say things like "This is not my father (or mother)" in scenarios like that, so that people WILL help if something happens.

If one of my kids ever yelled that out in public because they were having a tantrum, they'd be in big trouble, but if someone approached me, honestly, I would not be upset if someone called the cops. It's pretty much the one phrase kids can say to let other people know something is wrong.

A kid would have to pretty rotten to yell that because they were mad at their parent. But it may teach them never to do it again.

[krystl]

Even Brad? THAT child has been wandering completely lost around here for several years now.

Leave Brad alone!

[Jersey Yankee]

shes the lady that got stabbed inn NYC, and her neighbors turned up the TV and didnt help her

In the midnight hours.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_k...itty_genovese/ (see page 3 for the grim details).

I'd just call police and let them handle it. Beyond that, I didn't see anything.

[Jersey Yankee]

Even Brad? THAT child has been wandering completely lost around here for several years now.

Hey, man, I've been trying to get you some more beer!!!

Leave Brad alone!

Thanks for that one.

[Jersey Yankee]

We teach our kids to say things like "This is not my father (or mother)" in scenarios like that, so that people WILL help if something happens.

If one of my kids ever yelled that out in public because they were having a tantrum, they'd be in big trouble, but if someone approached me, honestly, I would not be upset if someone called the cops. It's pretty much the one phrase kids can say to let other people know something is wrong.

A kid would have to pretty rotten to yell that because they were mad at their parent. But it may teach them never to do it again.

I've heard of one situation where the kid put on a tantrum and said something similar, and the cops didn't believe the Mom. She had to pull out pictures of her and the kid together before she was allowed to leave w/her own kid.

[Mattpat11]

Another thing that needs to be noted in the defense of the people that walked away. If there was an actual abduction going on, I REALLY doubt the kidnapper would stand there in broad daylight talking to the kid for three minutes or however long some of these set ups took. The one where the guys finally reacted had to be well over a minute. If she is reacting like that, he would either immediately snatch the kid and run or just flee.

And also, I don't mean to rag on the little girl's acting, but did anyone she was "convincing" as being kidnapped? If they really wanted to convince people that she was in trouble, she should have been in hysterics, kicking at him, shrieking, anyone but repeatedly saying the same almost rehearsed sounding like over and over again.

[Casey at the Bat]

Just to make you all feel a little better...

I work at a residential facility for abused/molested/neglected children. These kids are pretty messed up psychologically because of the things that were done to them at a very young age. As a result, many times, they choose to AWOL off campus when things go bad, and we have to go follow them, chase them, and some times even have to physically restrain them to stop them from hurting themselves. We hate having to restrain them at all, but we especially hate having to restrain them in public, because someone ALWAYS calls the police. ALWAYS! Even when we identify who we are, and show our work badges, the bystanders NEVER let us leave their sight. Because only a select few are allowed to follow the kids into public and are the only ones to decide if a restraint will be justified, we tell them that when people in public start to intervene, or ask the kids if they need help, to direct them to call the police if they really want to help the child. We absolutley hate it when the public gets involved, cause all they do is get in the way, and it is a huge pain in the ass for us, but we understand why they do, and are actually glad that people who think they are seeing a child be abused still go out of there way to get involved.

Worse incident we ever had was with an off-duty cop who refused to believe us, believe our boss, and didn't care what type of badges we could show him, or what paperwork we had to show him that we had legal custody. He didn't let us go anywhere, and continually instructed us to take our hands off the child that we were holding on to (which we refused to do, because he was threatening to run into a busy street to get hit by a car). Forty-five minutes later, marked poice cars showed up, looked at us and knew who we were, and let us go back to our business.

I haven't seen the video, but it certainly doesn't sound like it is very accurate. Trust me, people almost ALWAYS call the police if a child is involved.

[smr15]

I remember years ago, my sister and I were walking from the parking lot into the Willowbrook Mall, and an older woman and a young child were walking from the mall, into the parking lot.

The young girl was being held by the wrist by the older woman, pulling her along, and the young girl (maybe about 4) was saying, "I don't wanna go....I WANT MY MOMMY"... or something very similar.

My sister looked at me, turned around, and went RIGHT up to the woman, stepping in front of her, saying, very loudly (so other people in the parking lot would notice) "Why is this girl saying she wants her mommy, who are you?"
The woman was startled, and said that she was her grandmother, and then the girl's mother came out of a car in the parking lot when she saw what was going on.

My sister said something to the effect of "sorry.. I just thought the little girl was in trouble and that you were a stranger to her", and both the mother and the grandmother said "NO, thank YOU." .. and some other stuff to the effect of that they would have done the same thing. My sister indicated that as a mother, she just felt she had to say something.

I have to say that I was not quick to react to it as my sister was.

(p.s. I also remember that as the little girl was holding on to her mother's neck, she had this look like she knew she was gonna be in a little bit of hot water once they got home. )

[penguin4]

I forgot what the phenomen is called but this is the same thing as when a girl was getting robbed outside of an apartment complex and everyone heard her screams and even looked out the window at her.. but no one did anything because they assumed someone else would call the police, or that someone else would be doing something about it.

Yes, Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death by a man in Queens in March 1964 and neighbors in entire surrounding apartment building just stood and watched. (Later the beginning of a popular song about public apathy).

More about the case here.

I don't know if I would get involved, sad to say, for all the other resons people listed. A lot of times people assume on the conservative side, and the likelihood it's not an abduction (and that you'll be embarrassed for taking action in a domestic dispute) is probably stronger than the likelihood it is. Sort of like The Boy Who Cried Wolf. You can't tell a cry for help from a false alarm.

I remember my psych professor telling this story in class, he was in the mall (or perhaps some open concourse) and he heard a woman giggling in the bushes, and some rustling. He didn't think much of it (other than that it was a couple getting inappropriately down and dirty), until suddenly a woman ran out, her pants half down, shouting "Help! I'm being raped!" Apparently the giggling was the man trying to cover her mouth to stifle her screaming.

[yankeeschic12324]

Yes, Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death by a man in Queens in March 1964 and neighbors in entire surrounding apartment building just stood and watched. (Later the beginning of a popularsong about public apathy).

38 people witnessed it in one way or another and not a single person did anything. Thats horrible. And then when someone decided to call the police, they were there within 3 MINUTES!

[Mattpat11]

More about the case here.
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