Some of their faces were relaxed with smiles that come from pleasing the teacher. The room rocked with a guttural cry, "Strength Through Discipline.". The trouble with the situation and role I had created was that I didn't have time to think where it was leading. I turned it off. You would be walking down the hall when all of a sudden three classmates would turn your way each flashing a quick salute. Steve turns and gives a quiet salute. No sign of a smile or a thought or even a question. It's Steve, Steve Conigio. A blank field of white. The experiment continued. Students showed increased academic skill and motivation. They even seemed to be asking better questions and treating each other with more compassion. I began to think of myself as a part of the experiment. The first congress of the Red Trade Union International at Moscow, 1921. Shereen Lehman, MS. He was correct. As the movement grew outside his class and began to number in the hundreds, the experiment had spiraled out of control. Third Wave Experiment. he was a body guard. "Mr. Jones, have you seen this advertisement in Time magazine? Feel strong and in control of destiny. ", "If our enactment of the Fascist mentality is complete not one of you will ever admit to being at this final Third Wave rally. After 5 days students were informed it was an experiment on how NAZIsm spread. Neck muscles rigid. all?) I explained how discipline and community were meaningless without action. I was now acting instinctively as a dictator. The question here is not why but how the German people came to support the Nazi regime. It's now just a dream, something to remember, no it's something we tried to forget. Proper seating became the most important aspect of learning. If only he would have raged in anger or simply investigated the situation I could point the students to an example of righteous rebellion. He normally let them call him Ron, and was much respected, charismatic and popular. 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. O my Gosh, I thought this story was amazing. Based on his account, he did not question his students' experiences and reflections by careful listening to them and providing them with sensitive guidance. (From around 2010) Evil becomes banal when ordinary people dont want to admit that they are implicated. Thanks, Eugene But no. When a student asks how so many people could be . You chose to accept that group's will and the big lie over your own conviction. Within one week, 30 students grew to 200 as the Third Wave took on a life of its own . This conclusion falls flat on the hard ground, as many critics have concluded, including Arendt herself. The Third Wave. Both options were unworkable. in fact I instructed the class in a sitting posture. The belief that human beings are basically evil and therefore unable to act well toward each other. 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. The roar of the Nuremberg Rally blasted into vision. How far would you have gone? Was The Wave Experiment by Ben Ross Succesful. Only a small minority of students saw through the faade, they were named the breakers who tore down Third Wave posters and replaced them with counter slogans. I saluted back. I reiterated the importance of this event and asked once more for a show of allegiance. To provide an encounter with community I had the class recite in unison "Strength Through Discipline." They are lost. I took the film from the three cameras in the room and pulled the celluloid into the exposing light. Strength through community The book (written to illustrate the experiment) The Wave forms part of the essential readings for German college students to this day. Every word seemed to be taken and absorbed. 1981 Norman Lear ABC-TV Movie "The Wave". In objective terms I began to describe the past events. To grab quick solution. Robert was sobbing. You will not allow your friends and parents to know that you were willing to give up individual freedom and power for the dictates of order and unseen leaders. It was also the genesis of a secret that I and two hundred students would sadly share for the rest of our lives. The machine came to life producing a luminous field of phosphorus light. He seemed delighted and told me not to worry. I was in pretty bad shape myself. As friends they chummed together. It was a silent signal of recognition. I demanded that they leave the room. Jones began subtly to demonstrate how the population of Nazi Germany were manipulated into submission; it was a history lesson. Things were already getting out of control. Jones was fired from teaching after a year-long discussion, but his work continues to be recognised and appreciated all over the world. At this point students stood without prompting and began to give what amounted to testimonials. The third wave, 1967: an account - Ron Jones. Strength through understanding To accentuate this, I requested answers to be given in three words or less. You bargained your freedom for the comfort of discipline and superiority. I began to think that the students might do anything I assigned. Hand curved in a similar fashion I return the gesture. 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. Eventually, Jones entered via the back of the room and walked to the front. The third wave, 1967: an account - Ron Jones. I confided that they were the students selected to represent their area. Like the Germans, you will have trouble admitting to yourself that you come this far. Do you remember the question? Human beings circling and holding each other. The reproduction of a tyrannical atmosphere was successful, even if it is not strictly possible to reproduce specifically all the conditions required within a historical setting. It's raising a barn with your neighbors, it's feeling that you are a part of something beyond yourself, a movement, a team, La Raza, a cause. "There isn't any leader is there?" A presence that will not change. I will remain an ageless benchmark in his life. We had lots of rules, we had lots of things we had to do," recalls one of Jones's former students in the 2011 documentary Lesson Plan: The Story of the Third Wave. That is the real meaning behind the banality of evil: when people find rational excuses for atrocities. April 21, 1967. Robert is like so many kids in school that don't excel or cause trouble. "This is the final lesson to be experienced. You will keep this day and this rally a secret. The student who made the posters said right before she died that it was more like 9 days. . The procedures were simple. Be in the small auditorium ten minutes before 12:00. This rally is for members only.". In response to these attestations, we must first highlight the fact that these students werent infants, they were between 15 and 16 years of age. Controversial and unorthodox as the Third Wave Experiment might be, there is a lot we can take from social experiments such as these, especially amidst the disaster and upheaval we have witnessed so far in 2020. Faces without eyes. The students had become more and more involved in the project. I told him we were merely studying the German personality. 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. ", The clincher came quite by accident. Jones added "Strength Through Action" to the chalkboard. This exercise in fascism took place in Palo Alto, California. That's how it all started. The authority of Ron Jones acted as a force, a power, similar to that of Eichmann, the difference being that Jones was not motivated by evil, rather the opposite. it went something like this. 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. Finally questions began to emerge. Everyone was capable and equal. Mr. Jones used his own students to test out his theory, that the desire for order and discipline was the key to manipulating a body of people to act a certain way. You are a selected group of young people chosen to help in this cause. [9] The students proceeded to conduct trials for those thought to be not loyal enough to the movement, with punishment consisting of banishment to the school library. In an embarrassed hug we greet. Ron Joness students didnt know they were taking part in an attempt to show how they too could fall into step when a tyrannical authority was present. Therefore, it becomes necessary in some cases to manipulate and monopolise peoples confidence. On Monday, I introduced my sophomore history students to one of the experiences that characterized Nazi Germany. No psychological effects were reported, and his students even respected and revered him yet more for his unusual lessonhence the documentary was made by two former classmates. On Thursday I began to draw the experiment to a conclusion. Others simply sunk into the activity and took self assigned roles. 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.. On Tuesday, the second day of the exercise, I entered the classroom to find everyone sitting in silence at the attention position. "Before turning on the national press conference, which begins in five minutes, I want to demonstrate to the press the extent of our training." It also helps us understand further how the Holocaust could have happened. You can't admit to being manipulated. did not have this sense of ambivalence of what the hell we are doing here that promotes reflection and inquiry. Students were withdrawing their arms from behind their chairs. community, pride and action. Embellished or not, this information is in-valuable and clearly possible. He ordered students to attend a noon rally on Friday to witness the announcement. I talked about pride. Every fibre strained to perform the deed. In slow methodic tone I explained what was behind the Third Wave. It was a wild gamble. It was strange how quickly the students took to this uniform code of behavior I began to wonder just how far they could be pushed. To allow students the experience of direct action I gave each individual a specific verbal assignment. The students chanted their slogan in anticipation. They aren't bright, they can't make the athletic teams, and don't strike out for attention. Others cried openly and then brushed away tears to carry on. The rabbi became a part of the experiment In remaining ignorant of the oppression in the experiment he became an accomplice and advocate. it's discipline. In the martial atmosphere of the class they seemed stunned and pensive. How a ballet dancer or painter works hard to perfect a movement. They began to panic. Schoolteacher Ron Jones's personal account of his experiment which created a proto-fascist movement amongst his high school pupils in Palo Alto, California, which in 2008 was subject of the award-winning film The Wave. I think its a great, although disturbing, story but I guess what I'm having trouble with is the timeline. 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. I wondered if this doesn't happen to lots of people. Hey Felton, many thanks for your comments! A German documentary entitled The Invisible Line (Die Geschichte der Welle) debuted on television on December 19, 2019. Now that I look back, they appeared much like the child with so called learning disability. I shared this silence with two hundred students. Hand raised upward in a shape of a curling wave. It's your job to read this pamphlet and report its entire content to the class before the period ends. After a few minutes of waiting, Jones announced that they had been a part of an experiment in fascism and that they all had willingly created a sense of superiority, much as German citizens had done in the period of Nazi Germany. In 1967, a high school history class in California became the lab rats of an experiment to study the rise of Nazism. And they seemed to want more. For years after the second world war, when the world had time to reflect, we had taken the conclusions of these experiments and the words of Arendt to conclude that evil, in itself, is banal, and can be found in the most ordinary of upstanding citizens. I told the assembly that a full explanation would take quite a while. I hadn't planned such intensity or compliance. The Aversion Project (1970s and 80s). TIL about the Third Wave experiment. 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