To find these covid snitching threads terrifying

[CrotchBurn]

Student house party. 75% voted for OP to call police.

Really?

I think this thread is chilling proof at how far we've fallen in a society within such a small amount of time. Less than a year with constant media brainwashing, all of us essentially under house arrest, and look at us. Clearing out supermarkets and calling the police because "it's the right thing to do" and "they're putting society at risk".

Who else would you have turned in?

At what other point in history would you have colluded with the government to "do the right thing", without any thought for your fellow humans just being people?

They are students. They are broke, they have been confined to their box rooms almost a whole year. Have some heart for christs sake.

And by the way, I do believe in covid. I believe in staying home and wearing masks and doing the right thing. I would never grass though. Ever. And that goes for covid antics, benefit fraud, whatever. I believe people sometimes do what they need to do to survive physically or emotionally.

I think its terrifying what society has become in less than a year.

Who would have thought we would be living on a world where you would be standing in a little yellow circle traced out on a supermarket floor, and not an inch over if you please, else you'll be reported as a health threat!

Is this our world now? In which young lonely people are turned in and fined for spending time together?

I'm not advocating for student parties, I'm advocating for looking away when you see one.

[CrotchBurn]

@AlternativePerspective
Yes. I hadn't thought of that re shifting boundaries. That's a good point. It's interesting to know where people draw their own lines though. I wonder how we arrive at those conclusions for ourselves. I'm going to ask my immediate family whether they would report or not and see whether there's a pattern within a family. Personally my family has never been in a context where reporting something would crop up as a quandry I dont think, so if we all have a similar stance on it i would be interested to know what it is that shapes views on reporting vs not reporting

[AlternativePerspective]

@ AltJ no not backtracking. Just explaining because clearly you lack the thinking skills to grasp the obvious.

[FOJN]

I think words such as grassing and snitching are very immature.

I "grassed" on someone who nearly ran me over once. I was one of four people who "grassed" on the driver for the damage he did in the space of a 500 metre journey. If I had been less mobile, say though age or because I was pushing a child in a buggy, I would not have been able to get out of the way and would have been killed or seriously injured. He was so drunk he managed to collapse someone's garden wall, damage three vehicles and nearly hit two pedestrians. By the OP's reasoning I was wrong to report the incident.

Comparing lockdown reporting to Nazi Germany is quite distasteful, a slap on the wrists or a hefty fine is not quite the same as a gas chamber. I feel certain that Frank family probably experienced lockdown fatigue but decided a party to lift their spirits would be ill advised!

I wouldn't report in this case but I wonder if people would be quite so forgiving if we were dealing with MERS (30% mortality rate) rather that covid. Would reporting people in that scenario also be snitching?

Holding a party is likely to have consequences for people that didn't attend so claiming the students behaviour is no one else's business is a weak argument.

[oakleaffy]

@trixiebelden77

I’m an ICU dr and really loathe the decision to make this a law enforcement issue, it actually makes public health tracing and management harder.

This /\

People haven't downloaded the App, and are giving fake names.

[Eckhart]

I think this thread is chilling proof at how far we've fallen in a society within such a small amount of time

Such drama. People report things when they feel that those things are risking the welfare of others. The laws have changed. People haven't. There have always been lawbreakers; there have always been people who report them.

Why are you of the opinion that 'people have changed'?

[LastGoldenDaysOfSummer]

In another era these students would be fighting in the trenches or working in munitions factories. They aren't children they are adults.

If they behave like children they deserve all they get. Of course they should be reported. How many hospital admissions will their stupidity cause?

[Benjispruce2]

DD is a student in a private house. They’ve all had covid so mixing with each other only makes sense. They get online shopping and stay away from everyone else.

[AltJ]

@AlternativePerspective

@ AltJ no not backtracking. Just explaining because clearly you lack the thinking skills to grasp the obvious.

Is insulting the intelligence of people you disagree with in an argument your usual response, or the one you fall back on when you can't think of an intelligent response?

You clearly can't think of a good argument, because there isn't one, so have resorted to childish name calling.

Why don't you have a go at exxplaining to me 'the obvious'?

[CakeRequired]

How would you feel op if a student partying caused a family member to die? As someone else said, some of these students are student nurses and doctors I'd imagine. It's not as if they can isolate and do studying from home only afterwards, they have work placements. Imagine if they continue to go in, thinking they are fine and pass it on to your family member, who then dies. Still in support of student parties now and happy no one grassed on them?

[Scarlettpixie]

my point was that regardless of the ethics of it, I dont believe snitching is right

How far do you take this OP? If someone is breaking the law when do you ‘snitch’? Theft, neglect, violence, child porn, murder? Where is your cut off point when snitching is ok?

Some people think that if people are breaking the law, putting lives at risk and adding to the extended restrictions the rest of us are living under because of their behaviour, they should be reported. I agree.

And students haven’t been confined to their box rooms for a year. Don’t be over dramatic. Restrictions were much reduced over the summer.

The people not following the rules are making it worse for the rest of us. People will be ill and some will die as a result. Businesses will be further disrupted etc etc.

I think yabu.

P.s. i haven't reported anyone as I haven’t seen any large gatherings. I would not report the odd visitor or two.

[Backbee]

No it suggests I don't engage with anti-intellectualism. Again, sorry!

Or actual logic. No need to apologise, being judgemental of others and acting cooler than everyone else as you just let live must use a lot of your brain power with little room for applying logic and seeing others points of views.

[Oeliil]

Whilst I haven’t lived in Nazi Germany, I have lived under the many restrictions in the USSR (in a region with additional restrictions). I can understand why people are looking to history to try to explain their worries. It’s not about saying it’s the same situation, it’s a conversation about the gradual erosion of rights and the mistrust that is engineered between different factions in society. I can see why people want to talk about l, for the first time in their lives or knowledge, laws coming in which control their behaviour in the privacy of their own homes. If you’ve grown up in a country where ‘an Englishman’s home is his castle’ and you discover that it isn’t, it questions what you thought you knew.

[Covidorcold]

They are students. They are broke, they have been confined to their box rooms almost a whole year. Have some heart for christs sake.

Like people losing their jobs are broke? Like people shielding have been confined to their homes?

[dontdisturbmenow]

I believe people sometimes do what they need to do to survive physically or emotionally
And many believe that some people think rules don't apt to them because they are somehow more precious and their reasons are more valid than anyone else.

My neighbour has been having people in her house, friends of her kids. These is no element of need there, but she is the type of person whose philosophy is 'noone can tell me what to do and I don't care about other people, only me and my family matter'.

Haven't reported her though, can't be bothered.

[Scarlettpixie]

So for example if I saw someone spitting in somebody's face to give them covid I would report. A party I wouldnt because for all I know the students are then completely isolated from others in their normal day to day lives.

How are they isolated? How can you possibly know this? Students will be using public transport, going to shops, doing part time jobs etc!

[AlternativePerspective]

@ CrotchBurn controversially, I think that reporting often depends on how close a person feels they themselves could come to committing the same crime.

So e.g. while someone might never have or never intend to commit benefit fraud, they’ve been hard up at times and could see how it could happen.

Similarly, most parents have lost it with their kids at one point or another, so again, while they don’t approve, they can see how it could happen and that maybe this is just a snapshot.

In terms of domestic violence I think there is often a doubt factor. They hear what they think could be someone being violent to their partner, but what if they’re wrong. What if it’s just a row, we’ve all had them after all, and they are humiliated by the police turning up. Or in some instances if the house is attached to theirs they know the perpitrator will know where the report came from and then they might be at risk.

I think the reasons for not reporting are a lot more personal and closer to home than just wanting to be understanding. Iyswim.

[Covidorcold]

Also everyone has their own line in the sand - I wouldn’t report someone having family members over - but a huge house party - yes I would.

Same with your “benefits” parallel. Would you report someone who perhaps had four council flats that they obtained fraudently and were renting out for profit?

[Pollynextdoor]

The comparison to nazi sympathisers who would report jews is vile!
You could easily throw that back and argue that the people who say they would report student parties are the ones trying to do the right thing and saving lives of others.

DS1 is a student at a university which has had a lot of Covid cases, but it has mainly been contained at campus and within the student population. The local area does not have a high Covid rate. It’s a small city so I can well understand why the locals get a bit pissed and report a student party.

[CrotchBurn]

@dontdisturbmenow
Weirdly, this bothers me more than student house parties. I'm not sure why

[PercyPiglet1]

Yanbu, it is amazing how fast and easy it was to turn into a police state.

[CrotchBurn]

@Covidorcold
Hmm. Now you're making me doubt myself. Because that hypothetical situation you give would infuriate me. I can't decide whether I would report or not.

[JacobReesMogadishu]

You could absolutely argue the non reporters are more like the nazi sympathisers. They're the ones turning a blind eye while people are put at risk and potentially die.

Of course like the nazi sympathisers they'll deny there's a risk, say the students don't mix with non students, etc even though that's obviously bollocks.

[TheHeathenOfSuburbia]

[quote CrotchBurn]@Balhammom

Their behaviour COULD cause direct harm to somebody after the fact. Equally though, depending on their person and their circumstances, it's possible that attending a party could have no direct harm on anyone else. So to me there is no guarantee they are causing direct harm and so I wouldnt snitch[/quote]
Would you report a bloke hanging round outside a school offering the kids sweets?

I mean, he's probably just being friendly, right? So you should wait till you're sure he's harmed one of them?

[CakeRequired]

Weirdly, this bothers me more than student house parties. I'm not sure why

But they are doing the exact same thing, saying no one can tell me what to do.

Your logic makes zero sense.

[JacobReesMogadishu]

See I'd be less likely to report the benefits fraud as although it would infuriate me I don't see people's lives being put at risk in the same way.