Recently, I wrote about how we have become so addicted to our smartphones that we are more interested in getting the video of an incident than actually helping.
I wrote it in response to a video of a child trapped on a pipe spanning over a flooded river in Joburg.
I noticed how dozens of people were standing around videoing the scene of a man going to rescue the child, instead of helping him.
I was particularly disturbed by the fact that it was clearly a dangerous situation and the man was trying very hard to get to the child and to stop both of them from falling into the raging waters and drown.
It was clearly a tragedy waiting to happen.
The man managed on his own, but more helping hands would have made the situation a lot easier for him.
A few people wrote to me to remind me that this is exactly what happens in bullying situations as well.
Often young people are far more interested in capturing the altercation on video than they are in helping the victim.
It is especially infuriating when you see more than one person videoing the scene because logic dictates that if others are already recording, then there’s no need for you to do the same.
Little did I know that the Western Cape Education Department actually has a campaign to address these situations, called “Raise Your Voice, Not Your Phone”.
And last week, the campaign’s efforts were acknowledged with a couple of nods in the IAB Bookmark Awards.
The campaign was truly insightful, as it brought another element to the bullying debate - the fact that spreading videos of bullying doesn’t help the victim, it actually worsens their trauma.
A better course of action is to help prevent the situation from happening, or recurring.
So think about that the next time something is happening in front of you.
Helping out is caring.
Whipping out your phone to take a video is ultimately about your own ego because you are thinking of all the likes and shares you’re going to get on social media.