The Third Wave
1. What did you find disturbing about the article? If you were in that setting as a student, how do you think you would have behaved? Was this experiment ethical on the part of the teacher? Do you believe HE felt it was ethical?
What I found most disturbing about his article was, that the fact one person could go in and take a group of students and convince them that being a part of a particular group could unite them as one! It seemed they were more disciplined, stronger, held each other accountable for their actions. By the middle of the project, even Mr. Jones had questioned his past teaching skills and thought The Third Wave was disturbing normal learning in his class. It even crossed his mind that he” Should have I been teaching this technique all along?” just because of the positive response in the beginning. Mr. .Jones was extremely surprised by the student’s desire and response to fulfill his task. Students not only obeyed him, but not even questioned his demands. As the week went on more kids felt that they needed to be a part of The Third Wave. I’m also very surprised that more parents did not come forward and question Mr. Jones’s agenda. Leading the students to believe that there was more for them, was none other than a lie. If I didn’t know any better this has the characteristic of a cult setting. Robert was one of many students who felt this was a huge disappointment mentally and physically. In reading, I feel Robert looked up to Mr. Jones, while being his body guard, and for him find out that this was not real was extremely hurtful. This could be very damaging for Robert as he grows older to be able to trust others. In conclusion, I believe this project could have been a successful experiment had Mr. Jones ended the experiment at “keeping your feet flat on the floor.” I know for myself, if I had to accomplish just that, I would have felt
What I found most disturbing about his article was, that the fact one person could go in and take a group of students and convince them that being a part of a particular group could unite them as one! It seemed they were more disciplined, stronger, held each other accountable for their actions. By the middle of the project, even Mr. Jones had questioned his past teaching skills and thought The Third Wave was disturbing normal learning in his class. It even crossed his mind that he” Should have I been teaching this technique all along?” just because of the positive response in the beginning. Mr. .Jones was extremely surprised by the student’s desire and response to fulfill his task. Students not only obeyed him, but not even questioned his demands. As the week went on more kids felt that they needed to be a part of The Third Wave. I’m also very surprised that more parents did not come forward and question Mr. Jones’s agenda. Leading the students to believe that there was more for them, was none other than a lie. If I didn’t know any better this has the characteristic of a cult setting. Robert was one of many students who felt this was a huge disappointment mentally and physically. In reading, I feel Robert looked up to Mr. Jones, while being his body guard, and for him find out that this was not real was extremely hurtful. This could be very damaging for Robert as he grows older to be able to trust others. In conclusion, I believe this project could have been a successful experiment had Mr. Jones ended the experiment at “keeping your feet flat on the floor.” I know for myself, if I had to accomplish just that, I would have felt