In class we watched an experiment by a third grade teacher on her students. She divided them into 2 groups and gave each privileges equivalent of white person of that era in turn. If you haven't watched the entire series, you can do so here:
A CLASS DIVIDED
After watching the original experiment and then the reactions of the third graders as adults, I've concluded that this experiment really changed them for the better. There was no longer racial discrimination and prejudice. It is clearly that before the experiment the students find black people to be below them because their skin is white. They call black people derogatory names and refer to themselves as better because that is what they were taught to believe. It was so refreshing to see how they felt after the experiment. The students realized that they were only being treated that way because of the color of their eyes and that's not fair. Just like it's not fair to treat someone differently because of the color of their skin.
Another thing that I noticed is that on the second day the children were just so willing to accept that the teacher lied to them about the eye colors and the other ones were actually better. They were so willing to just accept their teacher's word for it. This is proof of why it's so important to set a good example for young children and teach them right from wrong at a very early age. Also, the test scores seemed to improve on the days that the children were more powerful. This proves that empowerment and encouragement plays a large part in education. Each child can do better if they believe they should.
All in all I think this was a great experience, however I do agree wit the teacher in saying I would hope that it wouldn't have to be used on children everywhere. Especially today. The experiment obviously had a great impact on those third graders and I hope that the effects will continue to reach everyone who has seen the videos.
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I completely agree with your blog. The brown eyes, blue eyes experiment was a very effective way of showing how racial discrimination and prejudice can affect somebody’s self-esteem and thought process. What strikes me as most interesting was the fact that the kids knew, in the beginning, that what they said and did was wrong, yet they still did and said those inappropriate things. It is a sad thing, but we are truly role models to anyone who is younger than us, and any time that we do something that is perceived to be correct within society, the youth will imitate that behavior. Therefore, it is our job as Generation X, to take the proper steps to ensure that the next generation takes a positive step in ridding the world of such prejudice and racism.
ReplyDeleteBoth of your entries are well-written. I am glad that you found that the video provided useful insights. Thanks for posting it here, Brandy.
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