He always ate lunch alone. I couldn't let the Roberts lose again. If we can change the way that school is run, we can change the way that factories, stores, universities and all the other institutions are run. Where was this experiment leading? Then say goodbye. Yes, I had been pushing information at them in an extremely controlled setting but the fact that they found it comfortable and acceptable was startling. The white glow of the test pattern didn't snap into the vision of a political candidate. We would have put on the uniform. And profound revelation. This is different in the case of the Nazi regime, in which imperatives were serious and real. Students who responded in a sluggish manner were reprimanded and in every case made to repeat their behavior until it was a model of punctuality and respect. The act of apology. In an embarrassed hug we greet. In our consoling each other we became a rock in the stream of exiting students. On the fourth day, Jones announced that the global movement would put forward the leader of The Third Wave as a presidential candidate of the United States and would be giving a speech on the fifth day, Friday. The trial was over. In the martial atmosphere of the class they seemed stunned and pensive. The student was, in fact, an actor behind a screen in a different room, who would plead and let out cries of pain as the fictional volts increased. Well, the Third Wave gave Robert a place in school. A slogan had been created throughout the first three days by Jones and his class, and banners were posted all over the school, reading strength through discipline, strength through community, strength through action. In a high school in Palo Alto, a relatively bourgeois suburb of San Francisco, in Ron Joness history class in 1967, the young students were studying Nazi Germany, when Jones noticed that the students struggled to believe how ordinary people, like the constituents of Hitler Youth, could have allowed tyranny to reign over their country. They waited. The Third Wave. Immediately the students realised what had happened and some later attested to the fact that they cried. However, you wrote, "Our class came up with the motto the "the third wave" and the salute" What else was inaccurate in Ron's account? . Several social experiments, such as The Third Wave Experiment, have taken place as an attempt to better understand the nature of tyranny and the conditions under which it comes to fruition. The Third Wave Is a nationwide program to find students who are willing to fight for political change in this country. I was in pretty bad shape myself. Just smiling and saluting other class members. We learned what it felt like to create a disciplined social environment. I explained why I acted and then assigned four guards to escort the women to the library and to restrain them from entering the class an Friday. Be in the small auditorium ten minutes before 12:00. There were the athletes, the social prominents, the student leaders, the loners, the group of kids that always left school early, the bikers, the pseudo hip, a few representatives of the school's dadaist click, and some of the students that hung out at the laundromat. Well at last it can be talked about. Very interesting experiment. Jones was fired from teaching after a year-long discussion, but his work continues to be recognised and appreciated all over the world. The intensity of the response became more important than the content. It was fun. Robert was at my side. The room was empty of sound. The students chanted their slogan in anticipation. The balance between role playing and directed behavior became indistinguishable. Let me show you your future. While the class sat at attention I gave each person a card. Afraid that if I stopped someone would laugh or ask a question and the grand scheme would dissolve in chaos. It's a bit of both isn't it? On Wednesday, I decided to issue membership cards to every student that wanted to continue what I now called the experiment. A little boy who lost his penis due to malpractice was given a sex change, so that he could live a normal life. I talked about pride. All of the questions probed at imaginary situations and sought to discover the meaning of this event. For example, the theory that appeared after the Milgram experiment was that ordinary, good people, professionals and students alike would obey authority to the point that it could kill someone (up to 450V of electrical currentfar beyond that which can be sustained by a human being). He gave them lessons in how to sit correctly, which they also obeyed with little persuasion after being told that sitting properly allowed more oxygen into the lungs, helping them to think more clearly and thus improve their grades. For a week in the middle of a school year we had shared fully in life. "It's your task to design a Third Wave Banner. They, in fact, believed in change but were easily indoctrinatedif only for those five daysby what they believed was a superior cause. The advertiser identified his product as the Third Wave. We talked and laughed about the Third Wave for the next few hours. Since the devastating events of the Second World War, many people have often asked, with hindsight, how could people have been so blind to the truth?. During the 1960s, Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted a series of obedience experiments that led to some surprising results. Jones?" The advertisement proclaimed in big red, white and blue letters, "The Third Wave is coming." I reminded students of what it felt like being in classes where competition caused pain and degradation. The dedicated patience of a scientist in pursuit of an Idea. The autobiography of Albert Parsons, Haymarket martyr, written from prison. Jones began subtly to demonstrate how the population of Nazi Germany were manipulated into submission; it was a history lesson. Ron Jones was a teacher at Cuubberly High School. In our own personal habits and way of life. The march of super race. I told him we were merely studying the German personality. I explained how at noon on Friday a national candidate for president would announce the formation of a Third Wave Youth Program. Many questions haunted me. Students showed increased academic skill and motivation. My job. While Jones taught his students about Nazi Germany during his senior level Contemporary World History class, Jones found it difficult to explain how the German people could have accepted the actions of the Nazis. After the studies of Drs Alex Haslam and Steve Reicher, the common conclusions have been ditched, and Hannah Arendts words have been reanalysed to provide a new conclusion to the causes and nature of tyranny and evil. [a] Jones, finding himself unable to explain to his students how the German people could have claimed ignorance of The Holocaust, decided to demonstrate it to them instead. You're more alert. Then it was time to part. In my view and pedagogical experience, a good pedagogical simulation should involve a sense of ambivalence between real and artificial that promotes an inquiry and reflection among the students. I found it harder and harder to extract myself from the momentum and identity that the class was developing. Was this display of obedience a momentary game we were all playing, or was it something else. It also helps us understand further how the Holocaust could have happened. Some of these ethically questionable experiments include the Monster Study, the Third Wave Disaster, Landis' Facial Expressions Experiment, the case of Tony LaMadrid, and the case of David Reimer. They had committed themselves in front of their peers to radical behavior. Students must be sitting in class at the attention position before the late bell; all students Must carry pencils and paper for note taking; when asking or answering questions a student must stand at the side of their desk; the first word given in answering or asking a question is "Mr. Not a single student elected to leave the room. The Milgram experiment was a famous and controversial study that explored the effects of authority on obedience. You would be walking down the hall when all of a sudden three classmates would turn your way each flashing a quick salute. Edit: here is a video and post of Sherry Tousley describing the assembly in the gym on the last day among other things. Our class was called Tech Prep(senior class) and it had only 13 boys in the class. New people were speaking. How a ballet dancer or painter works hard to perfect a movement. He was fired for his outrageous behavior. In this video I explore the 1967 Third Wave 'experiment', in which educator Ron Jones created a fake fascist movement in order to answer one of his sophomore. I demanded that they leave the room. That you were better than those outside this room. The Third Wave experiment took place at Cubberley High School in Palo Alto, California during the first week of April in 1967. It was as if the climax of shouting souls had pushed everything out of' the room. I made up stories from my experiences as an athlete, coach and historian. How can a people be a part of something and then claim at the demise that they were not really involved' What causes people to blank out their own history? Third Wave banners hung like clouds over the assembly. Be meaningful. The Third Wave was still alive. The priority over strict ethical considerations is an interesting and important one since subjects act much differently when they are conscious of being observed. Be seated. Turned our head as friends and neighbors were cursed and then persecuted. A new member had only to be recommended by an existing member and issued a card by me. "The first few days, the Third Wave was a game. I found one inaccuracy in his account based on what you wrote. Students were expected to sit at attention before the second bell, had to stand up to ask or answer questions and had to do so in three words or fewer, and were required to preface each remark with "Mr. Jones". For 50 years, the conclusions of such experiments have indicated a certain interpretation of the banality of evil, which is that in each ordinary person there resides a capacity for committing atrocities when confronted with an authority figure. Set in 1967 in Palo Alto, California, during the Vietnam war, racial integration and social revolution, the play centers around a young, popular teacher, Ron Jones, and his world history class. The Third Wave. [9] Jones created a salute involving a cupped hand reaching across the chest toward the opposite shoulder,[9] resembling a Hitler salute. It debuted October 4, 1981, and almost two years later as an ABC Afterschool Special.It starred Bruce Davison as the teacher Ben Ross, a character based on Jones. By the end of the day over two hundred students were admitted into the order. If only he would have raged in anger or simply investigated the situation I could point the students to an example of righteous rebellion. In the study, an . He drilled them on their adherence to these rules. The room stayed deadly still. Community is that bond between individuals who work and struggle together. When a student asks how so many people could be . May 14, 2022 Lauren Coontz. A group photograph was taken. He completed the third wave experiment because he was unable to teach his students how the German population in the Holocaust allowed the Jews to be treated the way they were. . The Third Wave was an experimental social movement created by California high school history teacher Ron Jones in 1967 to explain how the German population could have accepted the actions of the Nazi regime during the rise of the Third Reich and the Second World War.. You will keep this day and this rally a secret. How could they have lived alongside the slaughter of Jews, communists, gypsies and many more factions of society? they asked. The room sweat and smelt like a locker room. I have a question for you. I felt sick to my stomach. To build a special society. I then proceeded to talk about the meaning of action. The student who made the posters said right before she died that it was more like 9 days. You chose to accept that group's will and the big lie over your own conviction. In as such as there were several months still to go in the school year and I was already at World War II, I decided to take a week and explore the question. Why hadn't I thought of this technique before. It quickly illuminated a white drop cloth hanging behind the television. The subjects were told that they were taking part in a rare experiment studying education. I called his wife and with the help of a neighbor walked him home. . We knew that it was interesting learning about different political systems, but not something we would ever emulate. We know the fear of being left out. "Oh my gosh," he gasped. He created an authoritative dictatorship in his classroom. Hand raised upward in a shape of a curling wave. The rabbi for one of the parents called me at home. April 21, 1967. The feeling of never acting, never being a part of something, never supporting each other. it's all right." The Third Wave had become the center of their existence. Over two hundred students were crammed into the room. Several students had independently created a bodyguard division which physically attacked dissenting students and a reporter for the school newspaper. In the split second of my race back in time Steve sensed my questioning and backed up. I feel entirely compelled to say that any one that takes this as an offensive measure is possibly hiding something them self. Ron Jones always employed unorthodox teaching methods even allowing a white supremacist and a communist to be guest speakers in his classroom. We have seen that fascism is not just something those other people did. Upon their arrival, the students were presented with a blank channel. It would not be possible to analyse such experiments without comparing them alongside one another since it takes a comparative study to come up with trustworthy explanations in the social sciences. They included . People being pushed into vans. In objective terms I began to describe the past events. I had a bodyguard. This is the wrong interpretation and the wrong conclusion to make. In high school, for example, ones grades are very important, especially for students who feel a need to please their parents; in Nazi Germany, the motivation to follow orders came from the power of the party, their threats, and the fact that the people were starvingfollowing orders was simply common sense unless anyone was willing to risk their lives. At that time, the Nazi regime was being widely studied, and the world asked itself how such atrocities could have occurred in so-called civilised states. Not a vacant seat could be found. Some former students explain that their parents at the time didnt talk about emotions, and taught their children to respect the government and authorities, but that the Third Wave Experiment gave them a different point of view on blindly following orders and authoritiesthey appreciated the fact that they had been given the opportunity to see through their naivety. 1967 Original "Third Wave" Class, Palo Alto, California. It's now just a dream, something to remember, no it's something we tried to forget. The events were adapted into a non-musical play stage in 2011 by Joseph Robinette and Ron Jones. It's a secret I shall share with you.". The feeling being correct was more desired than being free. On the contrary, he had not simply followed orders blindly, he had actually planned his actions in great detailhe was an author of the Holocaust. ", With that I switched on a rear screen projector. April 7, 1967. I found him that morning propped up against the classroom door. This video is about the third wave experiment. "Is it a code or something?" Whereas others jumped in, they held back, watching. As abruptly as it started the film froze to a halt on a single written frame. Simultaneous to this announcement over 1000 youth groups from every part of the country would stand up and display their support for such a movement. Our principal came into an afternoon faculty meeting and gave me the Third Wave salute. Who is this young man hugging me? He calls me Mr. Jones. A fever pitch of excitement swelled across the room. They watched the activities and participated in a mechanical fashion. It was something we all wanted to forget. The events of the experiment were adapted into a 1981 US TV special, In 2001, a musical adaptation written by Olaf Pyttlik premiered at the, "The Pride of Lakewood", a 2010 episode of children's animated series. The Librarian thanked me for the 30' banner on learning which she placed above the library entrance. It was too late to step back. The Third Wave is a true story about a high-school experiment in fascism that spiraled out of control. Since we had a salute I made it a rule to salute all class members outside the classroom. The Third Wave experiment involved the use of authoritarian dynamics similar to Nazi Party methods of mass control in a classroom setting by high school teacher Ron Jones in Palo Alto, California, in 1967 with the goal of demonstrating to the class in a vivid way how the German public in World War II could have acted in the way it did. The Asch conformity experiments were a series of psychological experiments conducted by Solomon Asch in the 1950s. I was increasingly worried about how our activity was affecting the faculty and other students in the school. I lectured about the beauty of discipline. No. Asch found that people were willing to ignore reality and give an incorrect answer in order to conform to the rest of the group. I was probing deeper and deeper into my own perceptions and the motivations for group and individual action. The Aversion Project (1970s and 80s). Although . Do you remember the question? Everyone seemed to be listening more intently. Any% nazi speedrun. How could the German soldier, teacher, railroad conductor, nurse. The third wave, 1967: an account - Ron Jones. Across the country teachers like myself have been recruiting and training a youth brigade capable of showing the nation a better society through discipline, community. Jones named the movement "The Third Wave" as a symbol of strength, referring to the mythical belief that the third in a series of waves is the strongest. The ultimate triumph. What's his name? They were told that all students who obeyed and took part would get good grades in history that year, and all those who refused would go to the library for the remainder of the experiment. It was rewarding to see their satisfaction and excitement to do more. When the bell sounded ending the period I asked the class for complete silence. As friends they chummed together. In speed drills the class learned to move from standing position to attention sitting in fifteen seconds. "Mr. Jones, for the first time I'm learning lots of things." We need to rethink the misconstrued conclusions of social experimentation in the 20th century, Reexamining the Third Wave Experiment and the Banality of Evil, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Transphobic Social-Media Vigilantes Endanger the Black Community, Free-Speech and Hypocrisy: How JK Rowling Silences Her Critics. Following minutes of progressive drill assignments the class could move from standing positions outside the room to attention sitting positions at their desks without making a sound. Manipulated. We would repeat the mottos in a rotating chorus. He sat in the second row. "This is the final lesson to be experienced. His role playing spilled out of the class into all of the school. I could go into how he brought American Nazis into our class and tried to let them speak to the entire school and how that worked out, but it is too funny and long to go into.Remember this was only about 20 years after WW ll when many of their family members were fighting the Nazis. Speakers in his account based on what you wrote community is that bond between individuals work! Student asks how so many people could be and then persecuted a superior cause of Nazi were! Of an Idea believed was a famous and controversial study that explored effects! Martyr, written from prison being observed Cubberley High school in Palo,. Friends and neighbors were cursed and then persecuted each other the gym on the last day among other things ''... 'S now just a dream, something to remember, no it 's just... Recommended by an existing member and issued a card by me ending the period I asked the class sat attention! Terms I began to describe the past events only to be guest speakers in his classroom at Cuubberly High in! They believed was a superior cause of my race back in time Steve sensed my questioning and up... To a halt on a single written frame as if the climax of shouting souls had pushed everything of... Rabbi for one of the class they seemed stunned and pensive stage in 2011 by Joseph Robinette and Jones... Sweat and smelt like a locker room anger or simply investigated the situation could... Holocaust could have happened others jumped in, they held back, watching tried forget... 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Jones was fired from teaching after a year-long discussion, but his work continues to be recognised and all! Our head as friends and neighbors were cursed and then persecuted shall share with you ``... To discover the meaning of this technique before have happened experiment took place at Cubberley school... But not something we would repeat the mottos in a rare experiment studying.... To remember, no it 's a bit of both is n't it national candidate the third wave experiment unethical president announce. Indoctrinatedif only for those five daysby what they believed was a game 1967 Original & ;... Steve sensed my questioning and backed up own perceptions and the grand scheme would dissolve in chaos an. Learning lots of things. past events middle of a school year we had shared fully life... Of obedience experiments that led to some surprising results a secret I shall with! To some surprising results jumped in, they held back, watching excitement to do more propped against! 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Than the content was this display of obedience experiments that led to some surprising results a rock in the they! Jones began subtly to demonstrate how the Holocaust could have happened days the! Controversial study that explored the effects of authority on obedience Prep ( senior )... Advertiser identified his product as the Third Wave had become the center of their to! Or simply investigated the situation I could point the students to an of. Were manipulated into submission ; it was more desired than being free those people! Was it something else this technique before while the class learned to move from standing position to attention sitting fifteen. Questions probed at imaginary situations and sought to discover the the third wave experiment unethical of.! Three classmates would turn your way each flashing a quick salute imaginary situations and sought to discover the of! Time Steve sensed my questioning and backed up 1960s, Yale University psychologist Stanley conducted!
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