Selfishness in Todays Society free essay sample

The simple things matter. Offering your seat to an elderly person, answering door-to-door salesman, saying please and thank-you. The list goes on. A new TV Show called â€Å"What Would You Do† is a programme about social experiments that they conduct public with hidden cameras. It usually involves their actors playing the victim in distress to see how people react. The number of people that ignore the victim is an utter disgrace. An issue in today’s society that deserves discussion. There once was a time (as hard as it is to believe for you youngsters) that people put their own lives at risk to help others. Over 400,000 Australian men volunteered in World War 1 and 156,000 of those men died or were wounded. Last Thursday, we celebrated Anzac Day. Even though many people attended the dawn services, not as many as you would expect did. What were they busy doing that was so important? Another hour sleep? or more likely, they simply just didn’t care for all the men and women that died for them. We will write a custom essay sample on Selfishness in Todays Society or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page But it’s not about the lack of people attending dawn services. People being selfish can be from simple things to life threatening. For an example, in the show â€Å"What Would You Do† the show used a young actress in the street and a man in the street with her. The scenario that the actors portrayed was that the young girl was being abducted by the man. The young girl started screaming that this man wasn’t her dad and begging for him to let her go. The man also started yelling things such as â€Å"Get in my car! † and â€Å"You’re parents won’t know! † making it obvious to the public that she was being abducted. The scene was done over and over again throughout the day. Out of those people a shocking number of only 10% stopped to help then girl. Hundreds of people walked past the scene, stopped stared and continued walking. Bill Stanton, social scientist expert says â€Å"The more people there are watching something go down, the less likely someone is going to take action. It’s called the Bystander Effect. † The bystander effect is a social psychological phenomenon that refers to cases in which individuals do not offer help to a victim. The producers of the experiment stopped a lady who had walked past the scene and asked why she didn’t do anything. â€Å"I just thought somebody else would take the responsibility, you know someone else would see it and help. † Bill Stanton also said â€Å"We live in a society where everybody is in tune with what they have to do. Even if you are afraid of retaliation, call 991, do something at least. You can get involved without putting yourself at risk and that’s the difference between being selfish and selfless. † These statistics shocked me. Imagine if this scenario was real, if the young girl was being abducted. If people just keep waiting for the next person to do it, then no one will help We all need help from time to time and depend on strangers, and as weird as it is, we’re all brothers and sisters in this world, and we need to look out for each other. If you see someone who needs help, put yourself in their shoes. What if you were in trouble and no one helped you? You may be 5 minutes late for work, or miss your train or don’t get your morning coffee. Help out, put others before you. Whether it’s a small selfless gesture to saving someone’s life. Selfishness in Todays Society free essay sample Selfishness, putting ourselves in front of others, seems to be the norm nowadays. The simple things matter. Offering your seat to an elderly person, answering door-to-door salesman, saying please and thank-you. The list goes on. A new TV Show called â€Å"What Would You Do† is a programme about social experiments that they conduct public with hidden cameras. It usually involves their actors playing the victim in distress to see how people react. The number of people that ignore the victim is an utter disgrace. An issue in today’s society that deserves discussion. There once was a time (as hard as it is to believe for you youngsters) that people put their own lives at risk to help others. Over 400,000 Australian men volunteered in World War 1 and 156,000 of those men died or were wounded. Last Thursday, we celebrated Anzac Day. Even though many people attended the dawn services, not as many as you would expect did. We will write a custom essay sample on Selfishness in Todays Society or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page What were they busy doing that was so important? Another hour sleep? or more likely, they simply just didn’t care for all the men and women that died for them. But it’s not about the lack of people attending dawn services. People being selfish can be from simple things to life threatening. For an example, in the show â€Å"What Would You Do† the show used a young actress in the street and a man in the street with her. The scenario that the actors portrayed was that the young girl was being abducted by the man. The young girl started screaming that this man wasn’t her dad and begging for him to let her go. The man also started yelling things such as â€Å"Get in my car! † and â€Å"You’re parents won’t know! † making it obvious to the public that she was being abducted. The scene was done over and over again throughout the day. Out of those people a shocking number of only 10% stopped to help then girl. Hundreds of people walked past the scene, stopped stared and continued walking. Bill Stanton, social scientist expert says â€Å"The more people there are watching something go down, the less likely someone is going to take action. It’s called the Bystander Effect. † The bystander effect is a social psychological phenomenon that refers to cases in which individuals do not offer help to a victim. The producers of the experiment stopped a lady who had walked past the scene and asked why she didn’t do anything. â€Å"I just thought somebody else would take the responsibility, you know someone else would see it and help. † Bill Stanton also said â€Å"We live in a society where everybody is in tune with what they have to do. Even if you are afraid of retaliation, call 991, do something at least. You can get involved without putting yourself at risk and that’s the difference between being selfish and selfless. † These statistics shocked me. Imagine if this scenario was real, if the young girl was being abducted. If people just keep waiting for the next person to do it, then no one will help We all need help from time to time and depend on strangers, and as weird as it is, we’re all brothers and sisters in this world, and we need to look out for each other. If you see someone who needs help, put yourself in their shoes. What if you were in trouble and no one helped you? You may be 5 minutes late for work, or miss your train or don’t get your morning coffee. Help out, put others before you. Whether it’s a small selfless gesture to saving someone’s life.