Why Didn’t More People Try to Help Gabriel?

The public has been very vocal about the tragic death of Gabriel Orellano, with many questioning why no one stopped to help. Today, C.E.O. in the Ministry of Human Development, Adele Catzim-Sanchez, told News Five that sometimes people are so caught up in their own situations that they can’t act. She also acknowledged those who did try to help Gabriel but emphasized that as a community, we need to be more responsive to the needs of the children around us.

 

Adele Catzim-Sanchez, C.E.O., Ministry of Human Development

“We recognize too that there were people who made attempts and so we want to say thank you to those who did try to intervene. But at the same time, we want to send a signal that we do need to be a lot more vigilant and mindful of the fact that children do need us as adults to be watching out for them and that it is our duty and responsibility as citizens to look out for each other, especially children and children who are vulnerable. One of the things that may have contributed to what happened Is related to a psychological term that is called unintentional blindness and basically in studying cases like this one, not to excuse it, but just to understand more, there are times when people are going about their daily lives and they focus and pay attention to what’s important to them. And so then it’s not an intentional act, but it’s unintentional that people might have noticed the child, but not really registered that this is a child that needs to be protected. Passing the Act on disabilities is something that we’re trying to do at the policy level, to just create a higher level of awareness of the need to look out for people who are differently abled. If we see any child that is alone, that is walking or running by themselves, that is a child that needs to be protected, and we need to call someone. We need to call the police. We need to call the Department of Human Services to make sure that we have an intervention for that child.”