Sunday, January 29, 2012

Bystander Effect

On Saturday I was at home getting ready for my fencing competition.

I heard a baby wailing somewhere in my block from my bathroom window.


There's a difference between a baby crying, and a baby screaming.

One is the sound you hear when a baby wants food.
The other is the sound of a baby in pain.


The wail I was hearing was the screaming kind, and it persisted for quite a while.

I was quite distressed.


Here's the thing:

It could well be nothing serious. Maybe it's just a normally noisy baby.

And my intrusion would be awkward. Un-welcomed.

But...

What if one day I read in the papers that someone in my block had abused their child?

How can I live with the knowledge that I heard the screams not just once or twice, but never did anything?


Let's say I decide to act. What should I do? Knock on their door? Call the police?

What would you do?

No comments:

Post a Comment