Ron Jones was helpless. When: April 1967 Where: History class at Palo Alto Cubberley High School in California, subject: The Third Reich. A student asked the question, why do Germans claim to have no knowledge of the slaughter of Jews? Why do farmers, bank employees, teachers, and doctors all claim that they didn't know about the tragedies that took place in the concentration camps? Ron Jones didn't know how to answer.
After class, the question was still circling in Ron Jones's mind. He decided to make a bold experiment. He was going to rebuild Nazi Germany, a miniature Nazi Germany, right in his classroom. He wanted his students to experience fascism first-hand, not only in its horror but also in its charm. On Monday, he stood at the podium and, unlike usual, began giving orders to his class.
“Mr Jones was controversial for his aggressive teaching methods,” says his former student Phillip Neel. “At one point, he divided us into two groups, one of whom had to cover his eyes all day, so that we could Understand, what is trust." In addition, the radical teacher banned some students from using certain bathrooms in the school building for a few days. "He wanted us to understand what racial segregation was," recalls Phillip Neel. The former student is now a TV producer and is currently working on a documentary about Ron Jones' experiments.
Jade is not cut, not a device
Jones is not only known for his radical approach to teaching, he is also a good friend to his students. He lives in a tree house and plays punk music. But on a Monday, he ordered his students to sit upright, with their heads straight, their feet flat, and their hands behind their backs. Next is speed work: stand up, sit down, repeat over and over. Finally, he asked the students to stand outside the classroom door, and when he gave the signal, the students ran back to their seats and sat down. Jones recorded the time, 5 seconds, silent 5 seconds. All it takes to do this is a few minutes of practice.
Jones goes a step further. He had students read the article and then start the discussion, but he had to follow strict rules: Those who wanted to speak had to stand up, stand at the table, and say "Mr. Jones" before they were allowed to speak. When speaking, you must be concise and articulate. Anyone who responds absent-mindedly and casually must answer it again, or even repeat it.
Jones stuck to his principles and was gradually surprised by the results. Troopers become role models, their voices, their unique perspectives, and their clear answers. It is no longer just the old faces who answered the question, and the level of both the question and the answer has been surprisingly improved. Students are more attentive and more attentive in listening to lectures. Jones originally thought that students would find authoritarian teaching methods ridiculous, resisting, and not cooperating, but the opposite turned out to be the case. Asking students to be disciplined, obeying orders is easy, surprisingly easy. Students also become more productive.
"He's a teacher we trust" As
he stepped into the classroom Tuesday, he was greeted by silence. All sat up straight behind the desks, although no one asked. Their concentration, their expressions full of anticipation, and no one whispered. They were waiting for him, Ron Jones, their teacher. He wrote on the blackboard: "Discipline builds strength" - "Unity builds strength", and began to lecture. The students listened carefully. At the end of the class, he made a brief movement with his hands: his arms stretched forward, his palms were first up, and then he slid down in a curve. a wave. Jones made the gesture a class greeting. Use this gesture in school and on the street to identify yourself as part of the movement.
Jones called the greeting "the third wave." The waves always come in three waves, and the last wave, the third wave, is the strongest when it hits the beach. No one realized how similar the name was to the "Third Reich".
“Mr. Jones he was a teacher we trusted. I was there too and everything seemed like a lot of fun and it felt like a game. At least at the beginning,” recalls Neel. At that time, he just thought that the teacher was very interesting in class.
Whistleblowing - for the collective good Over the
next few days, Jones watched every move on campus. In cafes, libraries, and gymnasiums, students greet each other with the "wave" gesture. The experiment has expanded from the classroom to the entire campus.
On Wednesday, Jones handed out membership cards, three of which had a red cross on them. Those who got the three cards were given a special mission: to report people who didn't follow the rules of the "wave". Subsequently, Jones began to "preach" again, from action, to the collective, all the way to self-degeneration. Infected by his own words, he oscillates between the dual roles of leader and teacher. He was proud of his motivated students, proud of their achievements, proud of their unity, and proud of himself.
Then, the trend of whistleblowing came. He only assigned three students to report critics and opponents. As a result, 20 people came. They unreservedly denounced their friends who joked about "Tide" and betrayed their parents who doubted "Tide". All for the collective good. Within three days, the campaign had become their whole life.
"From that moment on I realized that things were getting out of hand,"
"I was there, but I was a bystander," Neel says today. Some students are fully committed to the movement, while others are fundamentally opposed to the movement. "I told my best friend a joke about the 'third wave' one time between classes and the next day Mr Jones mentioned it in front of all the students and I started to get scared from that point on." Neel knew that his best friend must have tipped him off. "And at the time he was just staring straight ahead. From that moment I realised that things had gotten out of hand."
Jones was also frightened when he saw so many students betray their friends for the movement. He had to find a way to stop the experiment. But how can it be done?
On Thursday, the class had grown from 30 to 80. The newcomers all skipped the class they were supposed to go to. Jones declared that the "third wave" was part of a national youth movement aimed at promoting change in the domestic political system. At 12 noon on Friday, the organization will be officially announced by the presidential candidate. There will also be a corresponding announcement in the school.
A bizarre coincidence made the claim even more credible: Time magazine ran a full-page ad for a wood product called "Third Wave." The students were inspired. "No one had the slightest suspicion of Mr Jones at the time," Neel recalls.
"We came close to being good Nazis"
Friday noon in the school auditorium. More than 200 students sat there upright, the ceiling covered with large banners of "Third Wave". Jones made a brief speech, with 200 arms raised towards him in a "wave" greeting. This experiment was only carried out for five days, but it was a long five days.
"Of course," Neel said. "I was there, and as an outsider, it's hard to imagine what kind of group pressure has developed in just a few days."
Inside the auditorium, Ron Jones turned on a TV. Only snowflakes appeared. The students waited. There is nothing but snowflakes on the screen. The students are still waiting. They are used to discipline and obedience. After a few minutes, someone finally asked: "There is no leader, right?" The auditorium exploded. Jones began to speak, not loudly and harshly, but softly and reproachfully: "Yes, but we came close to being good Nazis."
No one wanted to mention the experiment
Jones showed the students a film about the Third Reich: the Reich party congress, the collective, discipline, obedience, and what the collective did: terror, violence, gas chambers. Ron Jones looked at the bewildered faces. That original question was answered. He said: "Like the Germans, it is difficult for you to admit that you have done so much. You will not want to admit to being manipulated, you will not want to admit that you are involved in this farce."
He was right. The next day, the oppressive atmosphere that hung over the school. No one wants to mention the experiment. "I wasn't deep into it myself. So for me, it was just a rare experience." But the others never said a word about it until Philip Neel contacted them for the documentary.
While gathering material, Neel learned that many were embarrassed to be swept by the "wave" so easily. Especially the senior students, who were not originally in Jones' class, but for the "third wave", they escaped the class they were supposed to take. "It was 1967 and many of them were into politics," explains Neel. "They took part in the student movement, even the Black Panther (the Black Panther movement in the '60s). They were so shocked that they gave up their freedom so easily.
" People are lonely, lack the warmth of family, lack of collective care, lack of belonging to a group. Even if this experiment is carried out today, it will get the same result... Go to your local school, can you find democracy there? ?"
- Ron Jones in an interview
View more about The Wave reviews
