If there was a lost child in the mall who had no supervision and could not findparent

Re: If there was a lost child in the mall who had no supervision and could not findpa

joG said:

Call the police. It has become too dangerous in today's society to talk to a strange kid as an adult.

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I believe calling the police is probably ideal, since the child might be neglected. This actually happened to me: I called the police and stayed with a crying child whose mother, it turned out, was nearby sleeping or passed out, according to the policeman.

Re: If there was a lost child in the mall who had no supervision and could not findpa

Kal'Stang said:

Shoulda made it multiple choice. I'd help the kid look for the parents and have the mall cops help.

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That. Kid is scared. Be a friendly adult. If kid is of an age, let them play with my kids while mall cops and I try to find parents.

Re: If there was a lost child in the mall who had no supervision and could not findpa

I voted to do nothing, and that is very different from what I would have voted just a few years ago.

If you take any responsibility at all, suddenly YOU are liable. You can be found to be negligent. Your words, even in reporting an incident can be twisted and used against you. You can be sued! You stitch yourself into whatever process of half-assed insanity that could follow. The more socialist America becomes, the more anti-social I become. Today, in this wonderful period under Comrade Obama, I take care of my own business, and defend my own interests, and leave other people and their bull**** the hell alone!

Re: If there was a lost child in the mall who had no supervision and could not findpa

MisterLogical said:

If there was a child lost in the mall who had no supervision and could not find his/her parents what would you do?

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As much as I'd like to say I'd help 100% of the time, my answer would likely depend on what I was doing at the time. If I was just browsing, then sure I would help out, but if I had to be somewhere I would probably rationalize it as being nothing to worry about, his/her mum is probably just sitting nearby. I'd be interested to see peoples answers to the questions if that person was also in a rush. Say you have a meeting, or job interview to get to, or a bus/train to catch.

The videos posted above are a perfect example of the bystander effect, where people won't help unless they are the only ones around, or they are specifically asked to. When I was younger and did first aid training, we were told that if you're performing first aid on someone and there is a group of bystanders nearby, it is better to specifically ask one of them to call the authorities, rather than asking the group in general. Given the opportunity to shirk responsibility, people will take it. That's just instinct, unfortunately.

Pollycy said:

I voted to do nothing, and that is very different from what I would have voted just a few years ago.

If you take any responsibility at all, suddenly YOU are liable. You can be found to be negligent. Your words, even in reporting an incident can be twisted and used against you. You can be sued! You stitch yourself into whatever process of half-assed insanity that could follow. The more socialist America becomes, the more anti-social I become. Today, in this wonderful period under Comrade Obama, I take care of my own business, and defend my own interests, and leave other people and their bull**** the hell alone!

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There it is folks. It only took 28 posts for 'Comrade Obama' to be blamed. Welcome to DP Pollycy! I'm sure you'll fit right in!

Re: If there was a lost child in the mall who had no supervision and could not findpa

Pollycy said:

I voted to do nothing, and that is very different from what I would have voted just a few years ago.

If you take any responsibility at all, suddenly YOU are liable. You can be found to be negligent. Your words, even in reporting an incident can be twisted and used against you. You can be sued! You stitch yourself into whatever process of half-assed insanity that could follow. The more socialist America becomes, the more anti-social I become. Today, in this wonderful period under Comrade Obama, I take care of my own business, and defend my own interests, and leave other people and their bull**** the hell alone!

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While for different reasons I think your reluctance is understandable.

Re: If there was a lost child in the mall who had no supervision and could not findpa

Nilly said:

As much as I'd like to say I'd help 100% of the time, my answer would likely depend on what I was doing at the time. If I was just browsing, then sure I would help out, but if I had to be somewhere I would probably rationalize it as being nothing to worry about, his/her mum is probably just sitting nearby. I'd be interested to see peoples answers to the questions if that person was also in a rush. Say you have a meeting, or job interview to get to, or a bus/train to catch.

The videos posted above are a perfect example of the bystander effect, where people won't help unless they are the only ones around, or they are specifically asked to. When I was younger and did first aid training, we were told that if you're performing first aid on someone and there is a group of bystanders nearby, it is better to specifically ask one of them to call the authorities, rather than asking the group in general. Given the opportunity to shirk responsibility, people will take it. That's just instinct, unfortunately.



There it is folks. It only took 28 posts for 'Comrade Obama' to be blamed. Welcome to DP Pollycy! I'm sure you'll fit right in!

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That is not instinct. Its just that some people are assholes and some people are not. However being preoccupied with other business is more understandable than saying "Well I dont give a **** since im a selfish asshole" and not doing it since you are scarred you will get in trouble is why they created the "Good Samaritan law". Since a lot of people will hesitate if they believe they will get in trouble for it later. Which you cant really blame them. However some people are still willing to override that in some cases. There are people who instinctively help, even when its not that persons responsibility to assist. So saying its instinct isnt really accurate. Its just some of us are terrible people.

Re: If there was a lost child in the mall who had no supervision and could not findpa

MisterLogical said:

That is not instinct. Its just that some people are assholes and some people are not. However being preoccupied with other business is more understandable than saying "Well I dont give a **** since im a selfish asshole" and not doing it since you are scarred you will get in trouble is why they created the "Good Samaritan law". Since a lot of people will hesitate if they believe they will get in trouble for it later. Which you cant really blame them. However some people are still willing to override that in some cases. There are people who instinctively help, even when its not that persons responsibility to assist. So saying its instinct isnt really accurate. Its just some of us are terrible people.

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I don't think it's just that people are assholes. Read the link I provided, it's a well documented social phenomena. Also see diffusion of responsibility. We're hard wired by nature to 'share the load'. We're social creatures afterall, and that can unfortunately manifest in undesirable ways. We're all susceptible to such lapses in judgement. It's what makes us human. There are assholes out there, but they're the guys in the videos posted who yelled at the girl for bothering them.

Re: If there was a lost child in the mall who had no supervision and could not findpa

SlevinKelevra said:

what if the child resisted ?

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If they resisted, I would report it to mall security anyhow and let them deal with it.

Re: If there was a lost child in the mall who had no supervision and could not findpa

MisterLogical said:

If there was a child lost in the mall who had no supervision and could not find his/her parents what would you do?

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What prompted you to ask this question? Why would there be any doubt for you about what to do?

Re: If there was a lost child in the mall who had no supervision and could not findpa

MisterLogical said:

If there was a child lost in the mall who had no supervision and could not find his/her parents what would you do?

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Thirty years ago I would have helped the kid find their parents.

Today I would contact mall security.

Why the difference? Too much dumb ass accusation hysteria and paranoia on the part of both parents and the authorities. Hence, just make sure the kid is safe then back away.

ETA: It's easier for women to directly help a kid. Men are too often automatically suspect in their motives.

Re: If there was a lost child in the mall who had no supervision and could not findpa

Pollycy said:

I voted to do nothing, and that is very different from what I would have voted just a few years ago.

If you take any responsibility at all, suddenly YOU are liable. You can be found to be negligent. Your words, even in reporting an incident can be twisted and used against you. You can be sued! You stitch yourself into whatever process of half-assed insanity that could follow. The more socialist America becomes, the more anti-social I become. Today, in this wonderful period under Comrade Obama, I take care of my own business, and defend my own interests, and leave other people and their bull**** the hell alone!

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I don't think my conscience would allow me to go that far (to do absolutely nothing), but I will grudgingly admit that I understand the sentiment.