Last week, a shocked world bore witness as former policeman Rolando Mendoza held more than 20 Chinese tourists from Hong Kong hostage aboard a bus in front of the Quirino Grandstand in Manila. When negotiations broke down after more than 12 hours, Mendoza fired at his captives, resulting in the death of eight tourists.

While the perceived incompetence of police authorities in the handling of the hostage crisis was enough to anger the people, what incensed them further was the appearance of pictures of Filipino students and policemen having their pictures taken beside the doomed bus.

The pictures quickly circulated on social networking sites and were quickly condemned by Filipinos and Chinese alike as an incredibly insensitive act.

Is this act of insensitivity unique to Filipinos?

Not really. In fact, a cursory look on the Internet – for instance the infamous /b/ message board on the site 4chan – reveals a culture of insensitivity that seems endemic among Generation Me, or those born in 1981 and beyond.

Is insensitivity a defining characteristic of Generation Me, who has grown up with countless avenues with which to cater to their perceived narcissism? Or has this insensitivity always existed, only now being brought to light by the speed with which the Internet spreads information and misinformation?

APATHY IS DANGEROUS

The /b/ message board on the site 4chan is famous among savvy Internet users as the birthplace of many Internet fads like “LOLcats”, pictures of cats with funny captions, and equally as infamous for putting up racist and homophobic posts. It also relentlessly bullied an 11-year-old girl that her parents had to have her placed under police protection.

Most of the users of /b/ fit in the age gap covered by Generation Me. And if the posts are any indication, they display a shocking lack of sensitivity and empathy.

A study by the University of Michigan on empathy, published on the website Psychology Today last June, seems to support this. The study involved 13,737 college students in the United States taking the Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index test, which looks at empathic concern.

The test showed that there had been a 48 percent decrease in empathic concern among the students. The researchers also noted that today’s students were less likely to have empathetic feelings for people less fortunate than them.

VIOLENCE NUMBS

Social networking sites like Facebook, as well as violent content from movies, news programs, and video games, are pegged as likely reasons for this lack of empathy among today’s youth.

“Exposure to violent media numbs people to the pain of others,” remarks Edward O’ Brien, one of the associates on the University of Michigan study. “Social networking also allows young people to lionize their lives, functionally creating a buffer between individuals, which makes it easier to ignore others’ pain, or even at times, inflict pain upon others.”

Being Internet and media savvy certainly fits the description of Generation Me. Psychology proffessor Jean Twenge, author of books “Generation Me” and “The Narcissism Epidemic” describes these young adults as constantly plugged into social media and quick to take pictures of themselves.

‘JUST ACTING THEIR AGE’

However, Twenge is the first to dispel that today’s young people are more self-centered and narcissistic than ever before. She notes that youth volunteerism has actually risen in the last decade.

Filipino psychologist Randy Dellosa says that despite the inappropriateness of the act, the students that took their pictures in front of the tourist bus are just acting their age.

“There are many reasons why the Filipino youngsters would do this. Owing to their lack of social consciousness, they do not realize the gravity of what had just happened. Because of their emotional immaturity, they fail to empathize with the emotional trauma which the victims and their families are currently going through. And lastly, some students are simply unthinking and have their pictures taken at the site just because their other classmates are doing it too,” Dellosa explains.

While some of today’s young people are definitely insensitive, Dellosa says it is only the Internet that makes it seem like every one of them is.

“The insensitivity of some Filipino youths is so glaring, particularly because they unabashedly exhibit their pictures on the Internet,” he says. “Because their pictures are for all to see, people may be tempted to think that insensitivity is a defining characteristic of the Filipino youth, even if it is just descriptive of a minority.”

Dellosa, like Twenge, also notes that narcissism by itself is not necessarily a bad thing, as this trait of today’s young people can be harnessed for the greater good.

“All teens possess a degree of narcissism. It is narcissism which makes teens focus more on themselves so that they can develop their own adult identities,” he explains. “But when the narcissism overshadows their personality, it can make them insensitive, selfish, and arrogant.”

EXPOSURE TO SUFFERING

According to Dellosa, what needs to be done is a re-education of today’s youth, opening their eyes to the realities of what everyday Filipinos have to go through everyday.

“Young Filipinos need to be exposed to the hardships and sufferings of their fellow Filipinos. When the youth become conscious of how others are in need, this may awaken their desire to empathize with others, instead of just thinking about themselves,” he says.

Dellosa also recommends teaching today’s youngsters the difference between values and virtues, to help them distinguish what behavior is acceptable in greater society.

“Values are what individuals deem as personally important for themselves. Virtues, on the other hand, are commendable traits or qualities which are meant for the common good of all people,” he explains. “When teens are ‘virtuous,’ they become more concerned about the welfare of others act to uplift the plight of those in need.”