ScotsAlan Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I am sure most people are aware of the story from China, of a toddler being left for dead after a hit and run. Eighteen passers-by did nothing to help the little girl, until a street cleaner eventually went to her aid. It's been reported that the little girl has died. ( Edited to add, it is strongly suggested you do not watch the video in the link below) http://www.bbc.co.uk...acific-15398332 After a public outcry on the internet, the local Government is apparently considering creating a law to make it a criminal offence to not help someone at the scene of such an incident. Could such a thing happen on the Isle of Man? I would like to think not. But it made me wonder, how many people would go to help, if for example they saw someone in distress ( adult or child) in the street? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick90210 Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I remember a few years back my brother (think he was about 13-14) was out cycling on peel road when he came off is bike after hitting a pot hole, he was lying on the side of the road injured and cars were just driving by, It wasnt until a nice guy in a robinsons van stopped to see if he was ok and took him home. He said he seen someone at the side of the road ahead and couldnt believe the other cars were just driving around him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbx Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 10 or 15 years ago I was driving along Peel Road past the Brown Bobby. I noticed 2 or 3 cars veer around an obstruction in the road and when I got there I saw it was a person flat on their face. I stopped in front of them using my car to protect them, found them unconcious and phoned an ambulance. When the ambulance arrived they recognised the person as a regular customer that would get blind drunk ,stumble and knock themselves out. I just couldn't believe that people could just ignore this sort of thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
im_new_to_this Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 There is a feeling that this "attitude" has stemmed from a number of rulings in China, one of which seen a "good samaritan" who found a woman with a broken pelvis. He tended to her and after sometime time, in discussion with her, ferried her to the nearest a&e. Once at the hospital the woman then claimed that the cause of her injuries were by this man and he was arrested. Although the "truth" was uncovered in court, the judge still proceeded to fine the man and he was forced to also pay for the womans medical costs of 45,000 Yuan. {1000 CYN = £95.90} Some of the more liberal media publications in China ran with a constant theme of "no good deed goes unpunished", which created an apathy towards others and situations that has been seen in many instances throughout the country since. This, however, is the one that has drawn the medias attention due, in part, to Reddit seizing upon the story, and rightly so. Further reading: http://news.bbc.co.u...int/3701848.stm - British Instance http://www.chinahush...-watch-him-die/ - Elderly Man http://www.reddit.co...&sort=relevance - Website that broke the story throughout the Western world Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
im_new_to_this Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 This doesn't get any better for the "good samaritan" in this instance either, therefore I can't imagine this type of thing from ceasing anytime soon. http://the-diplomat.com/china-power/2011/10/20/chen-xianmei%E2%80%99s-tragedy/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheels Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Interesting couple of lines on that page China has become an ultra-utilitarian society that concerns itself only with GDP growth, with rich lists, and with test scores. Psychologists have long known that there are two motivational centres in the human brain: one that’s utilitarian, rationale, and self-interested, and another that is social, emotional, and altruistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addie Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I was thinking of starting a topic concerning this video and also the graphic video content of Muammar Gaddafi's capture and death. The thought was, are we becoming increasingly desensitised to the pain, fear, dispair of other people? I watched the video of the poor child being treated as no more than a bump in the road. I don't believe that the total lack of concern shown by those passing, is anything to do with the law. It's surely about compassion? To see the seeming total lack of concern for another human being is absolutely frightful. Is this what we have become? Then I've been watching the coverage of Gaddafi's final moments. It's so very shocking and brutal. One video showed an innocent child, the other a brutal dictator. Was one acceptable? Did one make you weep and the other make you grunt in agreement? Were both equally shocking? Personally, the heartless brutality of both has revolted me. Are the endless display of images like this making the horror of either less shocking to us? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
We Like The Moon Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I was thinking of starting a topic concerning this video and also the graphic video content of Muammar Gaddafi's capture and death. The thought was, are we becoming increasingly desensitised to the pain, fear, dispair of other people? I watched the video of the poor child being treated as no more than a bump in the road. I don't believe that the total lack of concern shown by those passing, is anything to do with the law. It's surely about compassion? To see the seeming total lack of concern for another human being is absolutely frightful. Is this what we have become? Then I've been watching the coverage of Gaddafi's final moments. It's so very shocking and brutal. One video showed an innocent child, the other a brutal dictator. Was one acceptable? Did one make you weep and the other make you grunt in agreement? Were both equally shocking? Personally, the heartless brutality of both has revolted me. Are the endless display of images like this making the horror of either less shocking to us? Funny you should post this....similar thoughts are running through my head now, after flicking through the sky news website before having a skeet at MF Both of these videos made me sick to the core...... Video one...the poor child, it's sad enough reading about such a tragic tale, but do we really need to see it - heartbreaking Video two - Gaddafi.....again did we really need to see this - I know this man was a tyrant and his treatment at the hands of these yobs is probably no more brutal than his treatment of others, but to see that barbaric treatment, the last terrifying seconds of his life followed by images of his dead body, I was horrified, absolutely horrified. Is there truely any need to show such awful things as "news"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman8180 Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 The difference for me is that one, namely the treatment of Gaddafi, is at least understandable. Not excusable necessarily, but I personally can understand the mentality of those who have potentailly suffered under his regime and had been (right up to seconds before) involved in a long, voilent war with his 'supporters'. I can see the correlation between this and the 'mob' scenes around his capture and subsequent treatment. The situation with the injured child is quite different as I cannot begin to even contemplate why people would just ignore her. How anyone could continue past an obviously injured child (or adult for that matter) is beyond my thought process. So what if there is the minute risk of someone trying it on in a legal sense after the fact. I would rather act and potentially face the consequences, than walk by and never know whether I could have helped in some way. I would hope that if something ever happened to me, a 'good samaritan' would come to my aid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheels Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 A world of difference to my mind The child was an innocent And the lack of help rightly was shown It shames all those who didn't help the poor little soul and it shames the culture that created those conditions Gaddafi, anything but innocent Incidentally those 'yobs' may well have lost loved ones and friends to him and his henchmen They've fought across their country to free it After all that, what do you expect them to use - harsh language? All very well expecting a dignified and restrained response, reality is seldom that nice or noble And news is just that - the real world Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somewhatdamaged Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I read about the poor little girl before and it really upset me, i have a little girl the same age so it hit me quite hard. Suffice to say sandwiches went in the bin, and i've been feeling pretty miserable since. I know there is a video online, but i really don't see why it needs to be seen. I would be depressed for days if i watched it. And to answer one of the first questions posted, i would indeed risk my life to save someone in distress, especially a child. Very sad day indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScotsAlan Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 I think in the case of the video of the little girl - I think it is worth showing. But heavily edited of course. A picture says a thousand words as they say, and this this story had been verbally transmitted it would soon have been lost in the ether. The little girl's death today would have been a family tragedy, but because of the video it has become a global tragedy. When I first heard the news of this girl last week I was upset. But I watched the video for the first time this morning, and then I was really upset. The reaction in China at this video is significant. The press is full of it, with academics putting forward their opinions on the condition of Chinese society etc. Today there is news of people helping passers by. If anything, the average Chinese person in the street feels ashamed of their society over this. And many are asking if it would happen in the west. And most think it would not. But from the examples above, of course it does. Nick90210's story is particularly bad. So maybe by showing the toddler video, it helps make people think ( It has made me think). But I doubt very much video footage of a dictator being killed will put other people off becoming dictators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victorian dad Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I read about the poor little girl before and it really upset me, i have a little girl the same age so it hit me quite hard. Suffice to say sandwiches went in the bin, and i've been feeling pretty miserable since. I know there is a video online, but i really don't see why it needs to be seen. I would be depressed for days if i watched it. And to answer one of the first questions posted, i would indeed risk my life to save someone in distress, especially a child. Very sad day indeed. Don't watch it, it really is sickening & something you will wish you had never seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ans Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Agreed, I've seen some pretty horrific stuff in my time on the Internets and that's right up there as one of the worst things. Someone pass the brain bleach please. It's not gory, it's not violent, it's not obscene. It's just plain old awful. What's described above is the Peng Yu effect, and there's a good summary of the problems here http://www.learnchineseabc.com/others-blog-the-case-of-pengyu-in-nanjing-would-you-help-if-an-old-people-falls-down.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquarius Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I watched it. I wish I hadn't. It made me wretch and I feel like shit. But now I have, I have held my children closer than ever to me. I have thanked my lucky stars I have them. And it is a reminder to me that they are the best thing that has ever happened to me. RIP baby girl. Edited to say I watched the unedited version on You Tube and it was one of the most horrific things I have seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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