Encourage good behaviour instead of shaming bad conduct

It has become common for people to take pictures of negative behaviour — such as a person sitting on priority seats on trains while an elderly person or someone in need stands nearby — and post them on the Internet. Such photos often go viral — people comment on and share them — and the situation sometimes gets blown out of proportion.

I agree that it is wrong not to give up a seat for someone in need. However, such photos do not give Internet users the context of the picture or what happened next. Perhaps the person later gave up his seat, and this is not captured in the photo.

The fear of being “caught” for bad behaviour and shamed publicly may have led some people to entirely avoid priority seats. While this means those in need of the seats will probably have them, I feel this is not right. People should give up their seats out of genuine care and concern and not out of fear of social stigma.

Publicising bad behaviour is not the way to create awareness of considerate behaviour. Instead, we should encourage good conduct by taking pictures of people doing good deeds and giving them positive attention. This could help create a more positive society.

I have seen many acts of kindness that should not be left unnoticed. As a society, we should change our attitudes into more positive ones, challenging as this might be.