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Youths search their souls after Yue Yue's death

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The death of two-year-old Yue Yue who was run over twice by two vehicles, ignored by 18 passersby has caused many China's youth to reflect on how they would react in a similar situation, according to a survey conducted by China Youth Daily.

Moral sinkhole [By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn]

The survey of 4,065 young people revealed that 76.3 percent of those polled said they understood why 18 people didn’t offer help to the dying toddler.

But following the tragic case and intense media coverage, 57.7 percent said they were determined to change their attitude and would consider offering help.

More than 80 percent said they had followed the case closely with 28.8 percent of respondents born in 1980s and 37.7 percent born in the 70s.

Some 50.3 percent of respondents said if they were on the spot, they would have definitely tried to help with 26.9 percent saying they would have do so with reservation and 15.5 percent uncertain. Of those surveyed, 7.3 percent said they would not help at all.

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According to the survey, 87.7 percent of respondents agreed that the increasing indifference among people was the real cause for Yue Yue's death.

As for the question why the 18 pedestrians reacted so indifferently and didn't offer any help, about 70.7 percent of respondents thought they were afraid of bringing trouble to themselves; about 56.6 percent thought the passers-by were just minding their own business without showing any care to others' suffering; about 29.1 percent thought they failed to act to avoid any responsibility. Just over 10 percent of respondents believed the passers-by were innocent because they didn't see what happened clearly.

While many felt disappointed and indignant about Yue Yue's death and the indifference of the 18 passers-by, some hold a rather positive view.

Zhang Ming, professor at Renmin University of China said, "From another perspective, the incident provides an opportunity for the whole society to conduct self-analysis and reflection. The government should organize the whole society to hold discussions on the incident."