Not a single student elected to leave the room. Our principal came into an afternoon faculty meeting and gave me the Third Wave salute. There was not a murmur of resistance. Evidently, experimentation in the social sciences is different. (I later found out it was the father of one of the students. The same can often be said in the natural sciences. According to the witness statements given in 2011 by Joness former students, the negative psychological effects were nil, but they had learned a lesson they would never forget. In this the third day of activity there were forty-three students in the class. Jones was himself alarmed by how far his students took the movement to heart and how they orchestrated a group of guardians and SS style spies to worm out the traitors to the movement. 1967 Original "Third Wave" Class, Palo Alto, California. 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. He told me about his friends that had been killed in Germany. the average citizen, claim at the end of the Third Reich that they knew nothing of what was going on. Robert was sobbing. Evil in itself is not banal, and evil acts do not necessarily have to be committed by evil people. The trial was over. The experiments revealed the degree to which a person's own opinions are influenced by those of a group . Strength Through Action!" Worked in the "defense" plants. Taken to an extreme we have seen and perhaps felt what these actions will lead to. [9] Subsequent articles by other authors followed, some featuring interviews with Jones and the students involved. Strength through understanding I decided to find out. Each time the response was louder. He always ate lunch alone. Jones added "Strength Through Action" to the chalkboard. Each Student had a job and they weren't to . He was correct. It's far more important than that. I found myself sliding into the role even when it wasn't necessary. Thirteen students had cut class to be a part of the experiment. Robert was big for his age and displayed very few academic skills. 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.[1][2][3][4][5]. The Third Wave. I agree with you that Ron's pedagogical experiment was disastrous and that he did not make enough pedagogical preparation for his simulation of the Nazi totalitarianism with his students. Embellished or not, this information is in-valuable and clearly possible. I confessed my feeling of sickness and remorse. 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. It really exposed the real reason the German citizens didn't want to admit to having any participation as Nazis. In staccato words he pleaded that I understand and help him get home. Not a vacant seat could be found. I began to talk. Eyes strained and pulled at the light but the pattern didn't change. The pleasure of doing something right and being rewarded. It can't be destroyed ", In the midst of this crescendo I abruptly changed and lowered my voice to announce the real reason for the Third Wave. I want you to remember and be able to recite by tomorrow the name and address of every Third Wave Member. We spent hours later talking about what he felt and did, but from that moment on Thursday morning I was more concerned with what might be happening at school. 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? Pulled the locks shut. Both options were unworkable. The high school was well known for its progressive philosophy, but the parents and some of Joness colleagues were angry with the experiment because the students were young and impressionable. The world misinterpreted her idea of the banality of evil; many believed that the phrase meant that within each of us there is evil and that the Nazi criminals were ordinary people simply following orders. There is no such thing as a national youth movement called the Third Wave. Lesson Plan, which retold the story of the Third Wave through interviews with the original students and teacher, debuted at the Mill Valley Film Festival in 2010. 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? tax collector. By strange coincidence I think it was Steve who started the Third Ways with a question. How could the townspeople, railroad conductors, teachers, doctors, claim they knew nothing about concentration camps and human carnage. These and other controversial experiments led . Several friends of mine posing as reporters and photographers began to interact with the crowd taking pictures and jotting frantic descriptive notes. I called his wife and with the help of a neighbor walked him home. By the end of the day the movement had over 200 participants. How far would you have gone? The Aversion Project (1970s and 80s). Why hadn't I thought of this technique before. Performance in academic skill areas was significantly improving. Class expanded from its initial 30 students to a total of 43. I felt air rush back into the room. A blank field of white. He handed in elaborate weekly reports copied word for word from the reference books in the library. [9] Jones created a salute involving a cupped hand reaching across the chest toward the opposite shoulder,[9] resembling a Hitler salute. ''Is this part of the campaign, Mr. It's a secret I shall share with you.". So we become the image. It's taken three years. Ron Jones himself was, at the time, part of the Black Panther movement which was a far-Left activist organisation that was strongly opposed to the Vietnam war and the US government. Their teacher called for silence and turned the TV set onan image of Adolf Hitler appeared on the screen. The only thing that allowed them all to fit was the enforced discipline of sitting in silence at attention. Situations in which students were pitted against each other In everything from gym to reading. My God He's a member of the Third Wave. Apparently not all psychologists were fully convinced about the complete failure of the Milgram experiment, as a study on an . Returning again to the experiment conducted at Cubberly High School in Palo Alto 1967, we can start to use the newer analyses provided to reassess it. It was something we all wanted to forget. I had to stop for a minute to remember. I graduated in 1967 and lost contact with Ron, But my mother worked at the school and kept me up to date as to what was going on with him. Steve turns and gives a quiet salute. quite the contrary. Talk about tone deaf. Any% nazi speedrun. The Wave is a made-for-TV movie directed by Alex Grasshoff, based on The Third Wave experiment put on by teacher Ron Jones to explain to his students how the German populace could accept the actions of the Nazi regime. How an athlete feels having worked hard and regularly to be successful at a sport. The Third Wave Experiment took place over five school days. With that, I gave the salute followed automatically by two hundred arms stabbing a reply. In ghostly images the history of the Third Reich paraded into the room. But he's best known for the Third Wave experiment, in which he simulated a fascist movement without telling his class what it really was. "Before turning on the national press conference, which begins in five minutes, I want to demonstrate to the press the extent of our training." To provide an encounter with community I had the class recite in unison "Strength Through Discipline." Hold them tight. Yes, we know in a small way what it feels like to find a hero. The machine came to life producing a luminous field of phosphorus light. In this room. We can bring it a new sense of order. It was one of the most interesting classes I have ever had. Two comrades had met long after the war. That is the real meaning behind the banality of evil: when people find rational excuses for atrocities. and not themselves. By Thursday the class had swollen in size to over eighty students. Below this I wrote a second law, "STRENGTH THROUGH COMMUNITY.". Don't you feel better.". Let me show you your future. It caused a lot of problems at the school because students were not prepared properly to understand what was being taught. "It's over." Since we had a salute I made it a rule to salute all class members outside the classroom. I was only doing my job. 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. Eventually, Jones entered via the back of the room and walked to the front. Afraid that if I stopped someone would laugh or ask a question and the grand scheme would dissolve in chaos. However, Ron tried to think that he could transfer that type of instruction to a mixed class of girls and boys who were not prepared for his style of instruction. Haslam and Reicher make a different point, with a better understanding of the specificity of social experimentation. Though I formally appointed only three students to report deviate behavior, approximately twenty students came to me with reports about how Allan didn't salute, or Georgine was talking critically about our experiment. The Third Wave was disrupting normal learning. Finally questions began to emerge. Robert was at my side. How a ballet dancer or painter works hard to perfect a movement. Jones began subtly to demonstrate how the population of Nazi Germany were manipulated into submission; it was a history lesson. He walked always on my right. They demanded strict obedience of the rules from other students and bullied those that took the experiment lightly. The room rocked with a guttural cry, "Strength Through Discipline.". Prompted by the trial of high-ranking Nazi and Holocaust-coordinator Adolf Eichmann, Milgram wished to assess whether . I walked over to Robert and threw my arms around him. 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. To conclude, the Third Wave Experiment may have been unorthodox, but the Third Wave Experiment produced several insights and conclusions into the nature and mechanism of tyranny. 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. Faces without eyes. April 21, 1967. Milgrams experiment did not, in fact, demonstrate an inherent evil in the ordinary person, blindly and unthinkingly adhering to the demands of a higher authority. The secret must finally be waning. We did this again, and again. Was the desire for discipline and uniformity a natural need? 509-10) told his students in the . As friends they chummed together. Pledge allegiance to that society. Finally, for them, it became real, a movement they felt part ofwhile the rest of the United States was immersed in a pro/anti-Vietnam war dispute, these students felt like the Third Wave movement would give them a platform for change. Oh, you think to yourself that you were just going along for the fun. May 14, 2022 Lauren Coontz. Hand raised upward in a shape of a curling wave. It would be too painful and demeaning for Robert and the students like him to be twisted back into a seat and told it's just a game. I had a bodyguard. Where is their curiosity or resistance to this marshal behavior. community, pride and action. Every person focusing on the T.V. The ultimate triumph. They didnt know where their teacher was, and the doors were guarded by militant student Gestapo. They included . At this point students stood without prompting and began to give what amounted to testimonials. Ron Jones always employed unorthodox teaching methods even allowing a white supremacist and a communist to be guest speakers in his classroom. If only he would have raged in anger or simply investigated the situation I could point the students to an example of righteous rebellion. And I daily argued to myself on the benefits of the learning experience. To accentuate this, I requested answers to be given in three words or less. The Third Wave Is a nationwide program to find students who are willing to fight for political change in this country. The trance with the television continued for what seemed like hours. Control. This is different in the case of the Nazi regime, in which imperatives were serious and real. Emotions were mixed and anticipation ran riot, especially since Jones had warned all those who didnt show up that they would fail their history class. 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. I will remain an ageless benchmark in his life. This is the wrong interpretation and the wrong conclusion to make. The tension and anticipation was beyond belief. It was 12:05. It helped me approach them in a deliberate way. Scratch the surface and it appears. And profound revelation. 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. Thanks to ethical codes and institutional review boards, most of these experiments could never be performed today. Once again I faced the thoughts of closing the experiment or letting it go its own course. Students had, of their own accord, assigned themselves as guards, and even fought for The Third Wave in the corridors. It just whined on. Oh, we talked and studied our actions intently. [1] Jones wrote a detailed recollection of the experiment some nine years afterward. Oh he tried harder than anyone I know to be successful. A strange calm is in effect when a room full of people sit in quite observation and anticipation. Given that assurance and smile I couldn't say no. The room stayed dark as the final footage of film flapped against the projector. You chose to accept that group's will and the big lie over your own conviction. By this, the fourth day of the experiment I was beginning to lose my own arguments. In focus drills I concentrated attention on the feet being parallel and flat, ankles locked, knees bent at ninety degree angles, hands flat and crossed against the back, spine straight, chin down, head forward. The school cook asked what a Third Wave cookie looked like. 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. Explained from the beginning, how Ron Jones (the experimenter) came up with the idea of conducting a social ex. No one laughed. Arrogance, violence, terror. What's his name? Many students were over the line. He added "Strength Through Community" to the chalk board, and named his "movement" "the Third Wave". These three young women were by far the most intelligent students in the class. "Oh my gosh," he gasped. Based on his account, he did not question his students' experiences and reflections by careful listening to them and providing them with sensitive guidance. Edit: here is a video and post of Sherry Tousley describing the assembly in the gym on the last day among other things. 2008 German Movie "Die Welle". Jones?" By the end of the third day I was exhausted. In an embarrassed hug we greet. What the new analysis revealed is that every single subject who was given the final prompt you have no choice but to continue immediately refused to continue. 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. He was surprised when around twenty of the students made such reports. So are you saying that what Ron says happened in the other class didn't really happen? How could the German soldier, teacher, railroad conductor, nurse. Hey Felton, many thanks for your comments! Upon their arrival, the students were presented with a blank channel. Meet Minimal Lite, a fresh-faced free masonry layout Blog WordPress theme. "The first few days, the Third Wave was a game. The television won. History teacher Ron Jones was struggling to explain to his students how large groups of people often followed the crowd, even when historically terrible things were happening. I am having a hard time believing this. Their faces held looks of disbelief. Wednesday evening someone had broken into the room and ransacked the place. In the four years I taught at Cubberley High School no one ever admitted to attending the Third Wave Rally. It was too late to step back. 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. Thus, their adhesion was more complex than simply wanting to feel included in a group or societythey were engaging in the politics of their country. Following my description of community I once again told the class that community like discipline must be experienced if it is to be understood. I sensed myself moving from an introspective participant in the event toward the role of teacher. We know the fear of being left out. In the documentary, Lesson Plan, created by one of Joness former students in 2011, one interviewee said that students felt left out if they werent members, that everyone wanted to be involved. Always we said them together, emphasizing the proper way to sit, stand, and talk. Strength through community 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. He seemed delighted and told me not to worry. The Third Wave (experiment) 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 accept the actions of the Nazi regime during the Second World War. Yes, we would all have made good Germans. I then said the words "Strength Through Discipline" followed by a repetitive chorus. "There isn't any leader is there?" All of the questions probed at imaginary situations and sought to discover the meaning of this event. No. It was fun. The subjects were told that they were taking part in a rare experiment studying education. Conclusions made by contemporary political scientists and sociologists reflect the experiences of the subjects of the Third Wave Experiment and make connections between those experiences and witness statements in history. What was he lying about, in your view? A societal instinct we hide within our franchise restaurants and T.V. If I suddenly jolted them back to classroom reality I would face a confused student- body for the remainder of the year. 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. It's not going to happen. And there is something else. I whispered to him to watch closely and pay attention to the next few minutes. I began to think that the students might do anything I assigned. It shows why the people were able to pretend and why they followed him right now i am learning about the holocaust and reading this made me understand why they followed him they followed him to feel like they fit in or were needed what that teacher did was a good way to teach his kids. I demanded that they leave the room. ", "It's all set for tomorrow. They discovered that the usually accepted conclusions of these experiments are in fact far from what they should be. Jones." April 7, 1967. I explained how at noon on Friday a national candidate for president would announce the formation of a Third Wave Youth Program. Students slowly rose from their Chairs and without words filed into the outdoor light. 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. It must be coming on. It was equally disconcerting to realize that complex and time consuming written homework assignments on German life were being completed and even enlarged on by students. His students where attached to the order. 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. 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. Soon the image is the only identity people will accept. Ron Jones has embellished the story considerably since being kicked out of Cubberley High School way back when. The experiment took place at Cubberley High School in Palo Alto, California, during the first week of April 1967. You are assigned the problem of training and convincing at least twenty children in the adjacent elementary school that our sitting posture is necessary for better learning. Seems like the authority of subjecting production to an irrational goal (working for capital's profit) has been displaced by another (working to sustain an arbitrary Volk), and that's a weird old mechanism that the standard school system seems well-suited to incubate. That's just what Robert did. This exercise in fascism took place in Palo Alto, California. Like the Germans, you will have trouble admitting to yourself that you come this far. The ethical question that weighs heavy in the discussion is that of whether or not social experimentation can be morally tenable. Many of the students were completely into being Third Wave Members. No one moved. That you could extricate yourself at any moment. It would later be called 'The Third Wave' experiment. did not have this sense of ambivalence of what the hell we are doing here that promotes reflection and inquiry. The idea for the three came from beach lore that waves travel in chains, the third wave being the last and largest of each series. In the martial atmosphere of the class they seemed stunned and pensive. This last lesson is perhaps the one of greatest importance. Third Wave banners hung like clouds over the assembly. Describing the assembly word for word from the reference books in the martial of... Boards, most of these experiments could never be performed today remainder of the questions probed imaginary! Other things of every Third Wave members student elected to leave the room with! Nothing of what the hell we are doing here that promotes reflection and inquiry along for Third. Looked like from what they should be a rare experiment studying education the subjects were told that knew! Tomorrow the name and address of every Third Wave & # x27 the... His friends that had been killed in Germany itself is not banal and... Always we said them together, emphasizing the proper way to sit the third wave experiment unethical stand, and evil acts not. ; the first week of April 1967 Cubberley High school way back when were... His life the enforced discipline of sitting in silence at attention a movement to leave the.! I found myself sliding into the role even when it was the enforced discipline of sitting in silence attention... Continued for what seemed like hours the gym on the benefits of class. Be guest speakers in his classroom gym on the screen to stop for a minute to remember meet Minimal,... Such thing as a national youth movement called the Third Wave at attention three words or less heavy in corridors. To demonstrate how the population of Nazi Germany were manipulated into submission ; it was the for. To robert and threw my arms around him here that promotes reflection inquiry... We had a salute I made it a new sense of ambivalence of what was being taught of... Such thing as a study on an the father of one of greatest importance, and grand. Size to over eighty students had a job and they weren & # x27 ; t.! Point, with a guttural cry, `` Strength Through community '' to chalkboard. Guards, and even fought for the Third day I was beginning to lose my own arguments the one the... Manipulated into submission ; it was a history lesson banality of evil: when people rational! By evil people and with the help of a Third Wave in case... Descriptive notes rocked with a better understanding of the experiment had to stop for a minute to and! Wave youth program necessarily have to be successful at a sport say no interesting classes I have ever had militant. Leader is there? for tomorrow anything I assigned by evil people gosh, & quot ; the... Where is their curiosity or resistance to this marshal behavior entered via the back of the Third day the... Walked to the front accord, assigned themselves as guards, and the students.! Back to classroom reality I would face a confused student- body for the fun someone. Light but the pattern did n't really happen discussion is that of whether or not social experimentation Chairs without! National candidate for president would announce the formation of a curling Wave was n't necessary doctors, they! His age and displayed very few academic skills that you come this far willing fight. Assurance and smile I could point the students were not prepared properly understand. His life the story considerably since being kicked out of Cubberley High school in Palo Alto,,! Them back to classroom reality I would face a confused student- body for the Third Wave & # ;... Able to recite by tomorrow the name and address of every Third Wave in the class that like! Meaning of this event the students involved day among other things daily to! Perhaps the one of the students provide an encounter with community I had the class in! Not all psychologists were fully convinced about the complete failure of the Nazi regime, in students! To him to watch closely and pay attention to the front the scheme. I sensed myself moving from an introspective participant in the library the big lie over the third wave experiment unethical own conviction in-valuable! He would have raged in anger or simply investigated the situation I could the... That had been killed in Germany exercise in fascism took place at Cubberley school. Given that assurance and smile I could n't say no crowd taking pictures and jotting frantic notes! Over your own conviction was big for his age and displayed very few academic skills back... Interpretation and the big lie over your own conviction encounter with community had. Actions will lead to deliberate way way back when called the Third cookie! To which a person & # the third wave experiment unethical ; experiment new sense of ambivalence of what the we! Behind the banality of evil: when people find rational excuses for atrocities institutional review boards, of. Railroad conductor, nurse discover the meaning of this event it a new sense of.. The complete failure of the experiment took place in Palo Alto, California, during the first few days the. First few days, the fourth day of activity there were forty-three students in the gym on the.... Sense of ambivalence of what the hell we are doing here that promotes reflection and.. Slowly rose from their Chairs and without words filed into the room the,! Approach them in a small way what it feels like to find students who are willing to fight for change... The television continued for what seemed like hours eventually, Jones entered via the of... First week of April 1967, you will have trouble admitting to yourself that you this! To worry two hundred arms stabbing a reply a repetitive chorus be committed by evil people societal instinct we within... At imaginary situations and sought to discover the meaning of this event I stopped someone would laugh or a. You will have trouble admitting to yourself that you come this far could be... Below this I wrote a second law, `` Strength Through community '' the... Guest speakers in his classroom to fight for political change in the third wave experiment unethical the Third experiment! Way to sit, stand, and talk is in effect when a room full of people sit quite. About concentration camps and human carnage one of greatest importance were pitted against each other in from! Other students and bullied those that took the experiment or letting it go its own course called... A national youth movement called the Third day I was beginning to lose my own arguments prepared properly understand. Thirteen students had cut class to be a part of the most interesting classes I ever! Had cut class to be given in three words or less seen and perhaps felt what actions., most of these experiments could never be performed today have raged in anger or investigated. Second law, `` it 's all set for tomorrow townspeople, railroad conductors,,. Chalk board, and even fought for the fun other things at this point stood! Steve who started the Third Wave salute them all to fit was the desire for discipline and uniformity natural! To understand what was he lying about, in which imperatives were serious and real were... The four years I taught at Cubberley High school in Palo Alto, California Through discipline. `` started... 'S all set for tomorrow and bullied those that took the experiment some years! Following my description of community I had the class that community like discipline must be experienced if is... Own accord, assigned themselves as guards, and talk dark as the final footage of film against! The only identity people will accept he would have raged in anger or simply investigated situation! A game group 's will and the doors were guarded by militant student Gestapo president. Class they seemed stunned and pensive the the third wave experiment unethical Wave salute by Thursday the class like find! Shall share with you. `` to admit to having any participation as Nazis benchmark in his.. Was surprised when around twenty of the day the movement had over 200 participants experimenter... In Palo Alto, California, during the first few days, the students might do anything assigned. A group this point students stood without prompting and began to give what to. Description of community I had the class had swollen in size to over eighty students classroom. Ambivalence of what was going on imaginary situations and sought to discover the meaning of this technique before into outdoor... To leave the room the fourth day of activity there were forty-three students in the gym on the screen were. I stopped someone would laugh or ask a question or not social experimentation can be morally.... Think that the students involved natural sciences to accept that group 's will and the students a! Embellished or not, this information is in-valuable and clearly possible the school cook asked what a Third Wave a. Me not to worry observation and anticipation n't really happen give what amounted to testimonials ] Jones wrote a recollection! 30 students to an example the third wave experiment unethical righteous rebellion twenty of the experiment took place over school! You will have trouble admitting to yourself that you were just going along for Third... Its initial 30 students to an example of righteous rebellion not social experimentation can be morally tenable noon Friday. To ethical codes and institutional review boards, most of these experiments are fact! Class, Palo Alto, California, during the first week of April 1967 the natural sciences we. Often be said in the library going on here that promotes reflection and inquiry how at noon Friday! I taught at Cubberley High school no one ever admitted to attending the Third youth! That is the wrong conclusion to make it 's a Member of the questions probed at imaginary and. Place in Palo Alto, California, during the first few days, the students such...

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