Last week when I was watching a video of someone getting jumped on and assaulted for one of their electronic gadgets, I started to think that I was an awful person for watching. I felt bad for the guy getting assaulted in the video and I felt I needed to repent, somehow. Why was I looking at this? Was it just because it was there and so easily available or was it because I've become corrupt?
How often do we see bystander videos taken from their phones of someone getting robbed or attacked? We see these not just on the news, but on websites that are created to share and view these types of videos. What does that say about our society? Let's think about this.
It seems that every single day I see a video like this. What I want to know is why doesn't the person with the phone actually call 911? Unfortunately, many people are more likely to record something for the sake of it than for actually helping the authorities nab a suspect. It's the "cool" thing, apparently.
Now, I'm not older but I'm not a kid either and although I must sound like a curmudgeon, I'm not. I'm just concerned about what to say or teach the kids in my life, especially my own. This stuff wasn't around when I was a child or a teenager but these things can't be escaped these days. Since cell phone cameras became available, videos such as these have existed.
Without naming any, I know of a couple of sites that exist for the sole purpose of sharing videos of assaults, robberies, etc. Many of us may have a moral issue with going to a site like this but overall who's worse? The people who record these videos and place them on these sites or us, the viewer, for watching this type of content and increasing the popularity of these sites?
It can make you think that people purposely try to steal or do something stupid just to get on one of these sites. But is this really happening? Is today's youth doing this on purpose because they'll get their 15 minutes of fame? I'd hate to think that's the case.
So let's return to who's worse - - the person recording the video or the viewer? What do you think? I'd like to hear your opinion...please leave a comment.
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