Uncaring

In 2011, a two-year-old girl was run down by a truck in the Chinese city of Foshan. The girl, Yue Yue, lay in the road for seven minutes, and was run over again, while people walked and cycled past her until finally a woman moved her to the side of the road. She later died of her injuries in hospital. The ensuing global outrage focused on changes in China's social patterns. The possibility of being liable for the girl's medical bills might have been a contributing factor in people's reluctance to help. Guangdong province discussed introducing a law to make it illegal to ignore someone in distress. But it's not about being Chinese. In 2009,twenty people witnessed the rape and murder of a fifteen-year-old girl in Richmond, California. No one called for help, or intervened. Some people even filmed it on their phones. Some bystanders later said that they thought this was a joke, people messing about. But no one checked; no one asked if she needed help. - From The 15-minute psychologist by Anne Rooney