Why Are Bystanders Important

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Someone are about to go to sleep. They are in bed, just about to drift off, but then they hear a scream: Please help! He's hurting me! This is a situation any person may possibly need to consider. While certain people may come to help, many will likely turn away. This was a dilemma many Germans may have witnessed during World War II. Sadly, crimes are still committed to this day, and bystanders are forced into a difficult decision just as Germans in the Holocaust were: To speak out against these injustices and risk their lives, or to not step in. While this situation is very difficult, nevertheless, when bystanders witness a crime, they have a responsibility to help. Nevertheless, others who do not agree with this claim may say onlookers …show more content…
In the article ,"Bystanders don't act as man is beaten to death," it makes the claim that ," A schizophrenic man allegedly told his brother he heard voices that told him to kill a stranger in a bus station bathroom" (Associated Press). If the brother had stepped in, this crime would not have needed to happen and the police could have been alerted. This man clearly is unable to differentiate between right and wrong, so it must be up to others around him to establish the boundaries of the law for someone who is unable to as a civic duty. Another situation, in which a criminal thought he was unpunishable is in the article "Thirty-Eight Witnesses", when after an attacker was caught and sent to court, he said at one point about the lack of intervening witnesses, “’I knew they wouldn't do anything-they never do’" (Gansberg).This revelation would lead many to the conclusion that if someone had clearly interrupted, he would have stopped the attack since it would be clear to him that what he was doing was indecent and wrong. Moreover, the innocent woman would be alright and would be saved from having to deal with this violent crime while the man would be in prison. In conclusion, interfering or altering others to a possible crime will not let others think that what they're doing is right, justified, or will go