She was leaving a high school homecoming dance.</p><p>It should have been a night that ended with happy memories and silly pictures to be posted on her Facebook page the next day.</p><p>Instead, the 15-year-old was lured into an alley just outside of her California school and raped. For over two hours. As many as 20 people watched or joined in. They took pictures. Some laughed.</p><p> Our schools are supposed to be safe. We need to demand that much. But to realize that people watched these acts unfold like an episode of &ldquo;Law & Order&rdquo; is horrifying. </p><p> This violent voyeurism isn&rsquo;t new. Last month, it was this Richmond High School gang rape. The month before it was the YouTube video of 16-year-old Derrion Albert being beaten to death outside his Chicago high school. I shudder to think about the future.</p><p> This behavior of seeing a crime and doing nothing may go back to the 1964 case of Kitty Genovese. She was robbed, raped and murdered while more than 30 witnesses simply watched. </p><p>Psychologists call it the &ldquo;bystander effect&rdquo;: The more witnesses, the less likely a crime will be reported. You would think just the opposite. You would hope there is power in numbers.</p><p>And I believe there is. We just need to be reminded. We&rsquo;ve all seen those news specials where they videotape a child almost getting kidnapped or a woman being mistreated and no one steps in to help. Often people say they were scared, or they thought someone else would help.</p><p>A few years ago, a girl was being beaten and thrown out onto the steps of a building as I drove into the parking lot. I wanted to help, but a friend discouraged me. </p><p>&ldquo;You could get hurt,&rdquo; he said from the other end of the phone.</p><p>But I gave her a ride down the street and let her use my cell phone anyway. I just couldn&rsquo;t ignore her screams.</p><p>We shouldn&rsquo;t encourage one another to do nothing. I&rsquo;m not advising we get in the middle of dangerous situations or risk our lives.</p><p>But in the time it took those Chicago teens to run toward the fight and videotape Derrion Albert being viciously attacked, they could have called the police.</p><p>People use their phones for everything these days. They text, they take pictures, they shoot videos. But the most obvious thing is talking.</p><p>With just a quick call, a life could be saved. It can be done anonymously. That 15-year-old girl survived two hours of terrifying brutalization. Police say as many as 10 men raped her. Someone should have called the police. They should have done anything but stand by and watch.</p><p>Is that what we&rsquo;re becoming &mdash; a nation of bystanders? If so, our future is neither as free nor as brave as it used to be.