Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Introduction
The material in this guide is intended for educational use only, and reproduction for commercial
purposes is forbidden.
Objective
This study guide aims to provide a framework for students to analyze and understand this film, its
basis in actual events, and an historical context for the fascist direction The Wave group takes. Through
research, analysis, and discussion, students will achieve an understanding not only of the subject of this
drama but also the nature and psychology of the need to belong, empowerment, and authoritarianism.
The Film
The Wave (Die Welle), 2007 experiment that has now gone completely out of
Director Dennis Gansel control.
Writers Dennis Gansel, Peter Thorwarth, Todd
Strasser (novel)
Producer Nina Maag
Cinematographer Torsten Breuer
Editor Ueli Christen
Cast
Jrgen VogelRainer Wenger
Frederick LauTim
Max RiemeltMarco
Jennifer UlrichKaro
Christiane PaulAnke Wenger
Elyas MBarekSinan
Cristina do RegoLisa
Jacob MatschenzDennis
Maximilian VollmarBomber Frederick Lau addresses the audience as he holds his
Maximilian MauffKevin trophy at the German Film Prize Lola award
ceremony in Berlin April 25, 2008.
You are thus of the opinion that a dictatorship
would be no longer possible today in Germany. In probing the underpinnings of fascism,
The Wave is far from a social-studies lesson. As
When Rainer Wegner, a popular high with his previous film, Before the Fall, director
school teacher, finds himself relegated to Dennis Gansel fashions an energetic, gripping
teaching autocracy as part of the schools project drama that cuts through superficial ideological
week, hes less than enthusiastic. So are his interrogatives and goes straight for the veins
students, who greet the prospect of studying the human psychologies and individual
fascism yet again with apathetic grumbling. We behaviors that contribute to collective
get it. Struck by the teenagers complacency and movements. In unpeeling the emotional layers
unwitting arrogance, Rainer devises an and contradictions of his characters (the need to
unorthodox experiment. He introduces his belong, to be empowered, to escape social
students to everyday life in a dictatorship. But distinctions), Gansel offers a humanistic
his hastily conceived lesson in social orders and perspective on the terrifying irony that these
the power of unity soon grows a life of its own. students may welcome the very things they
But what begins as an educational game with the denounce.
terms discipline and community develops in Before The Wave is too easily dismissed
just a few days into a genuine movement called as a cautionary tale, its noteworthy that the true
The Wave. story that prompted Todd Strassers novel The
The students are initially fascinated by Wave (from which the film was adapted) did not
the social mechanisms and fail to notice how take place in Germany, but at a high school in
much and how quickly they are turning into a Palo Alto.
fascist society. By the third day they are starting Actor Frederick Lau, who plays Tim,
to exclude and persecute those who think was awarded the Lola (comparable to the
differently. The Wave gathers momentum and Oscar) as best supporting actor in The Wave.
within six days has taken a grip on the whole
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1063669/,
school. Rainer, himself fascinated by his role as http://twitchfilm.net/site/images/mastheads/D-
Fuehrer, is no longer capable of ending the War.jpg&imgrefurl=http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/german
y-goes-fascist-in-die-welle-the-wave/,
www.daylife.com/photo/0epc4BX58B1zz
The Director
Dennis Gansel was born in 1973 in
Hanover, Germany. After gaining some theater Filmography
experience in local amateur dramatics, he Die Welle (The Wave) (2008)
decided his future was in film. A weekend Videotagebuch von Dennis Gansel (2005)
seminar entitled How to Make Your First NaPolA (Before the Fall) (2004)
Movie provided just enough knowledge and Mdchen, Mdchen (Girls on Top) (2001)
experience convince him film was the career he ... aka (USA)
wanted, and to know that he had a lot more to The Dawn (2001)
learn. After making several short filmsmostly Das Phantom (The Phantom) (2000) (TV)
to impress the local girlshe got serious about Living Dead (1998)
film and attended the Hochschule fr Film und Im Auftrag des Herrn (1998)
Fernsehen (University for Film and Television) The Wrong Trip (1996)
in Munich from 1994 to 2000.
http://www.german-
films.de/en/germanfilmsquaterly/previousissues/seriesgerm
andirectors/marenade/index.html,
http://www.dennisgansel.com/,
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0304541/
Dennis Gansel
The Book
To be honest, I have always wondered
The Wave if the real life experiment conducted by Mr.
By Todd Strasser (writing as Morton Rhue) Jones actually went as far as his essay alleges.
The novel won the 1981 Massachusetts At the same time I firmly believe that whether it
Book Award for Childrens/Young Adult did or not is entirely besides the point.
literature.
The point is the message of the story,
Strasser writes on his Website: which serves both as a reminder of what has
passed and a warning regarding the future.
THE WAVE is loosely based on an
essay by Ron Jones that appeared in a WHOLE The murder of 6 million Jews (plus
EARTH CATALOGUE some time in the early thousands of other undesirables) may seen like
1970s. I have never met Mr. Jones. Ive been a distant event from your life. But it isnt. Are
told that he is the teacher who did the you aware that similar massacres of innocent
experiment upon which the book and TV movie people continue to this day? In your lifetime it
are based. has happened in Eastern Europe and Africa.
To me, one of the most rewarding especially teachers and parents, others do not.
aspects of THE WAVE is knowing that it is Lauries boyfriend David, who has been in The
required reading not only in your class, but in Wave since the beginning, tries to get her to stop
most of Germany as well. bad-mouthing The Wave. He eventually shoves
her to the floor and then realizes what harm The
Strasser worked not only from Ron
Wave has done.
Joness article but also the teleplay for The Wave
After talking with Laurie and David, as
by Johnny Dawkins, who was nominated for a
well as his wife, Christy, who is also a teacher at
1982 Humanitas Prize in the 60-minute
the school, Ross realizes that The Wave has
category, and a 1983 WGA Award for Best
taken a turn for the worse, and is determined to
Childrens Show.
stop it. However, he is determined to do so in a
Summary of the novel way that communicates the lesson he intended
The setting of The Wave is fictitious for The Wave to teach in the first place. He calls
Gordon High School, 1969. The plot revolves a Wave meeting in the auditorium and requests
around history teacher, Ben Ross, who cannot that only Wave members be present. They
answer the question of why the Germans gather in a similar fashion to the Nazi rallies,
allowed Adolf Hitler and the genocidal Nazi even equipped with banners and armbands
Party to rise to power, acting in a manner emblazoned with the Wave logo.
inconsistent with their own pre-existing moral
values. The only way he can see to answer the
question is to start an experiment that shows the
students what it may have been like in living in
Nazi Germany.
Ben starts by having his history class sit
up straight and obey his commands by, at first,
standing at attention beside their desks and
having to say Mr. Ross ... before asking
questions or answering questions he asked them.
After seeing the students reactions toward the
experiment, he decides to continue it the next
day by creating a salute, a symbol and Die WelleDas Musical
addressing three mottoes he made up: Strength the.Arter Greiz (Deutscheland) March 28, 2008
through discipline, Strength through community,
Strength through action. He calls this Ben tells The Wave members that they
movement The Wave. are about to see the leader of the whole
At first, students are skeptical about The organization and that he is going to speak to all
Wave, but after seeing how everyone becomes of them on television to create an international
equal, and that the stress of making choices are Wave Party for Youths. Everyone is shocked
lifted, the class falls into The Wave, and begins when Mr. Ross reveals that there is no leader,
to recruit others into it. Robert, the class reject, and that there is no international Wave Party.
seems to have changed the most due to The However, Mr. Ross tells the audience that if
Wavehis physical appearance becomes neater there were a leader, it would be the man on the
and the students grow to accept him more. projection screenAdolf Hitler. He explains
Laurie, a student in Mr. Ross class, how their obedience led them to act like Nazis.
starts to think that The Wave is having too much The shocked students drop all their
of an impact. A huge majority of the school is in Wave-branded trinkets and items, and slowly
The Wave, and its members attack students who leave the gym. As Ben turns to leave, the one
refuse to join. Using her influence as the school person who really flourished in The Wave,
newspaper editor, Laurie releases an entire issue Robert, is standing alone, upset that The Wave
of The Grapevine dedicated to showing the ended. During The Wave, he was finally
dangers of The Wave. While some thank her, accepted as an equal, no one picked on him, he
had friends, but his newfound social status is http://www.krref.krefeld.schulen.net/referate/englisch/r041
now worthless without The Wave. Mr. Ross 6t00.htm, http://www.toddstrasser.com/html/thewave.htm,
http://www.toddstrasser.com/html/ToddsBlog.html,
hugs and comforts Robert, and they walk out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wave_(book),
together. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wave_(TV_special)
Hitler Jugend
The Wave
The character of Rainer Wenger and the actions fulfill the will of the
intuitively understood this need in teenagers, and authoritative leader.
the rapid spread of The Wave was due in great
The Third Wave in all its incarnations
part to their vulnerability to the most attractive
proves that embracing fascism is an
aspects of Fascism and Nazism: belonging to a
uncomfortable possibility in our present and
group that is special in itself, not in its
future society, instead of being a relic of the past
individuals, and that enhances its prestige
that we have grown beyond. Human nature and
through excludingand punishingthose who
frailty keep it possible.
do not accept the value of the group and the
authority of its leader.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mob_psychology,
Manipulating peoples emotions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Fascism,
effectively lessens the power of rational http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manifesto_of_the_Fascist
analysis. Strengthening that emotional bond to _Struggle, http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch12.htm,
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761560927/National_
the group through defining it with badges,
Socialism.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika,
uniforms, slogans, and pride removes the moral http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika#Reintroduction_of_t
consequences of the groups actionsboth he_swastika_in_the_West
because its the group thats performing them,
Questions for Discussion and Research
1. Todd Strasser, when asked if he believed the account of the Third Wave was true or not, answered,
To be honest, I have always wondered if the real life experiment conducted by Mr. Jones actually
went as far as his essay alleges. At the same time I firmly believe that whether it did or not is entirely
besides the point. The point is the message of the story, which serves both as a reminder of what has
passed and a warning regarding the future.
Does it matter whether or not the Third Wave actually occurred? If it did not occur, why not simply
tell it as a story, a piece of cautionary fiction? Would the story have the same impact if, at the
beginning of The Wave, there could not be a statement that the events had actually occurred? Why or
why not?
2. Discuss the characters in the film as archetypes. (In psychology, an archetype is a model of a person,
personality, or behavior.) For example, Tim can be characterized as a loner, an outcast, a misfit, or
perhaps all of these. In particular, look at Karo, Sinan, and Kevin. Karo rejects and fights against The
Wave. Sinan, in spite of being non-Germanic, joins The Wave. Kevin wont conform to The Wave,
but he later wants to belong. What personality or behavior characteristics drive these behaviors? Can
they be summed up in one archetypal label, or is there something more complex about them than any
other characters?
When his wife asks him to stop the experiment, he doesnt want to. What is it in his personality that
makes him argue with her about it, when he soon comes to understand how dangerous The Wave has
become?
Appendix
Steve Conigio had been a sophomore student in
The Third Wave my World History class. We ran into each other
Ron Jones (1972) quite by accident. Its one of those occasions
experienced by teachers when they least expect.
For years I kept a strange secret. I shared this
Youre walking down the street, eating at a
silence with two hundred students. Yesterday I
secluded restaurant, or buying some underwear
ran into one of those students. For a brief
when all of a sudden an ex-student pops up to
moment it all rushed back.
say hello. In this case it was Steve running down
the street shouting Mr. Jones, Mr. Jones. In an
embarrassed hug we greet. I had to stop for a ignorance of the slaughter of the Jewish people.
minute to remember. Who is this young man How could the townspeople, railroad
hugging me? He calls me Mr. Jones. Must be a conductors, teachers, doctors, claim they knew
former student. Whats his name? In the split nothing about concentration camps and human
second of my race back in time Steve sensed my carnage. How can people who were neighbors
questioning and backed up. Then smiled, and and maybe even friends of the Jewish citizen say
slowly raised a hand in a cupped position. My they werent there when it happened. it was a
God Hes a member of the Third Wave. Its good question. I didnt know the answer.
Steve, Steve Conigio. He sat in the second row.
In as such as there were several months still to
He was a sensitive and bright student. Played
go in the school year and I was already at World
guitar and enjoyed drama.
War II, I decided to take a week and explore the
We just stood there exchanging smiles when question.
without a conscious command I raised my hand
STRENGTH THROUGH DISCIPLINE
in curved position. The salute was give. Two
comrades had met long after the war. The Third On Monday, I introduced my sophomore history
Wave was still alive. Mr. Jones do you students to one of the experiences that
remember the Third Wave? I sure do, it was characterized Nazi Germany. Discipline. I
one of the most frightening events I ever lectured about the beauty of discipline. How an
experienced In the classroom. It was also the athlete feels having worked hard and regularly to
genesis of a secret that I and two hundred be successful at a sport. How a ballet dancer or
students would sadly share for the rest of our painter works hard to perfect a movement. The
lives. dedicated patience of a scientist in pursuit of an
Idea. its discipline. That self training. Control.
We talked and laughed about the Third Wave for
The power of the will. The exchange of physical
the next few hours. Then it was time to part. Its
hardships for superior mental and physical
strange, you most a past student In these chance
facilities. The ultimate triumph.
ways, You catch a few moments of your life.
Hold them tight. Then say goodbye. Not To experience the power of discipline, I invited,
knowing when and if youd ever see each other no I commanded the class to exercise and use a
again. Oh, you make promises to call each other new seating posture; I described how proper
but It wont happen. Steve will continue to grow sitting posture assists mandatory concentration
and change. I will remain an ageless benchmark and strengthens the will. in fact I instructed the
in his life. A presence that will not change. I am class in a sitting posture. This posture started
Mr. Jones. Steve turns and gives a quiet salute. with feet flat on the floor, hands placed flat
Hand raised upward in a shape of a curling across the small of the back to force a straight
wave. Hand curved in a similar fashion I return alignment of the spine. There cant you breath
the gesture. more easily? Youre more alert. Dont you feel
better.
The Third Wave. Well at last it can be talked
about. Here Ive met a student and weve talked We practiced this new attention position over
for hours about this nightmare. The secret must and over. I walked up and down the aisles of
finally be waning. Its taken three years. I can seated students pointing out small flaws, making
tell you and anyone else about the Third Wave. improvements. Proper seating became the most
Its now just a dream, something to remember, important aspect of learning. I would dismiss the
no its something we tried to forget. Thats how class allowing them to leave their desks and then
it all started. By strange coincidence I think it call them abruptly back to an attention sitting
was Steve who started the Third Ways with a position. In speed drills the class learned to
question move from standing position to attention sitting
in fifteen seconds. In focus drills I concentrated
We were studying Nazi Germany and in the
attention on the feet being parallel and flat,
middle of a lecture I was interrupted by the
ankles locked, knees bent at ninety degree
question. How could the German populace claim
angles, hands flat and crossed against the back, As for my part in this exercise, I had nothing but
spine straight, chin down, head forward. We did questions. Why hadnt I thought of this
noise drills in which talking was allowed only to technique before. Students seemed intent on the
be shown as a detraction. Following minutes of assignment and displayed Accurate recitation of
progressive drill assignments the class could facts and concepts. They even seemed to be
move from standing positions outside the room asking better questions and treating each other
to attention sitting positions at their desks with more compassion. How could this be? Here
without making a sound. The maneuver took I was enacting an authoritarian learning
five seconds. environment and it seemed very productive. I
now began to ponder not just how far this class
It was strange how quickly the students took to
could be pushed but how such I would change
this uniform code of behavior I began to wonder
my basic beliefs toward an open classroom and
just how far they could be pushed. Was this
self directed learning. Was all my belief in Carl
display of obedience a momentary game we
Rogers to shrivel and die? Where was this
were all playing, or was it something else. Was
experiment leading?
the desire for discipline and uniformity a natural
need? A societal instinct we hide within our STRENGTH THROUGH COMMUNITY
franchise restaurants and T.V. programming.
On Tuesday, the second day of the exercise, I
I decided to push the tolerance of the class for entered the classroom to find everyone sitting in
regimented action. In the final twenty-five silence at the attention position. Some of their
minutes of the class I introduced some new faces were relaxed with smiles that come from
rules. Students must be sitting in class at the pleasing the teacher. But most of the students
attention position before the late bell; all looked straight ahead in earnest concentration.
students Must carry pencils and paper for note Neck muscles rigid. No sign of a smile or a
taking; when asking or answering questions a thought or even a question. Every fibre strained
student must stand at the side of their desk; the to perform the deed. To release the tension I
first word given in answering or asking a went to the chalk board and wrote in big letters
question is Mr. Jones. We practiced short STRENGTH THROUGH DISCIPLINE.
silent reading sessions. Students who Below this I wrote a second law, STRENGTH
responded in a sluggish manner were THROUGH COMMUNITY.
reprimanded and in every case made to repeat
While the class sat in stern silence I began to
their behavior until it was a model of punctuality
talk lecture sermonize about the value of
and respect. The intensity of the response
community. At this stage of the game I was
became more important than the content. To
debating in my own mind whether to stop the
accentuate this, I requested answers to be given
experiment or continue. I hadnt planned such
in three words or less. Students were rewarded
intensity or compliance. In fact I was surprised
for making an effort at answering or asking
to find the ideas on discipline enacted at all.
questions. They were also acknowledged for
While debating whether to stop or go on with the
doing this in a crisp and attentive manner. Soon
experiment I talked on and on about community.
everyone in the class began popping up with
I made up stories from my experiences as an
answers and questions. The involvement level in
athlete, coach and historian. It was easy.
the class moved from the few who always
Community is that bond between individuals
dominated discussions to the entire class. Even
who work and struggle together. Its raising a
stranger was the gradual improvement in the
barn with your neighbors, its feeling that you
quality of answers. Everyone seemed to be
are a part of something beyond yourself, a
listening more intently. New people were
movement, a team, La Raza, a cause.
speaking. Answers *tarted to stretch out as
students usually hesitant to speak found support It was too late to step back. I now can appreciate
for their effort. why the astronomer turns relentlessly to the
telescope. I was probing deeper and deeper into
my own perceptions and the motivations for
group and individual action. There was much special. Without command the entire group of
more to see and try to understand. Many students returned the salute.
questions haunted me. Why did the students
Throughout the next few days students in the
accept the authority I was imposing? Where is
class would exchange this greeting. You would
their curiosity or resistance to this marshal
be walking down the hall when all of a sudden
behavior. When and how will this end?
three classmates would turn your way each
Following my description of community I once flashing a quick salute. In the library or in gym
again told the class that community like students would be seen giving this strange hand
discipline must be experienced if it is to be jive. You would hear a crash of cafeteria food
understood. To provide an encounter with only to have it followed by two classmates
community I had the class recite in unison saluting each other. The mystique of thirty
Strength Through Discipline. Strength individuals doing this strange gyration soon
Through Community. First I would have two brought more attention to the class and its
students stand and call back our motto. Then add experiment into the German personality. Many
two more until finally the whole class was students outside the class asked if they could
standing and reciting. It was fun. The students join.
began to look at each other and sense the power
STRENGTH THROUGH ACTION
of belonging. Everyone was capable and equal.
They were doing something together. We On Wednesday, I decided to issue membership
worked on this simple act for the entire class cards to every student that wanted to continue
period. We would repeat the mottos in a rotating what I now called the experiment. Not a single
chorus. or say then with various degrees of student elected to leave the room. In this the
loudness. Always we said them together, third day of activity there were forty-three
emphasizing the proper way to sit, stand, and students in the class. Thirteen students had cut
talk. class to be a part of the experiment. While the
class sat at attention I gave each person a card. I
I began to think of myself as a part of the
marked three of the cards with a red X and
experiment. I enjoyed the unified action
informed the recipients that they had a special
demonstrated by the students. It was rewarding
assignment to report any students not complying
to see their satisfaction and excitement to do
to class rules. I then proceeded to talk about the
more. I found it harder and harder to extract
meaning of action. I explained how discipline
myself from the momentum and identity that the
and community were meaningless without
class was developing. I was following the group
action. I discussed the beauty of taking full
dictate as much as I was directing it.
responsibility for ones action. Of believing so
As the class period was ending and without thoroughly in yourself and your community or
forethought I created a class salute. It was for family that you will do anything to preserve,
class members only. To make the salute you protect and extend that being. I stressed how
brought your right hand up toward the right hard work and allegiance to each Other would
shoulder in a curled position. I called it the Third allow accelerated learning and accomplishment.
Wave salute because the hand resembled a wave I reminded students of what it felt like being in
about to top over. The idea for the three came classes where competition caused pain and
from beach lore that waves travel in chains, the degradation. Situations in which students were
third wave being the last and largest of each pitted against each other In everything from gym
series. Since we had a salute I made it a rule to to reading. The feeling of never acting, never
salute all class members outside the classroom. being a part of something, never supporting each
When the bell sounded ending the period I asked other.
the class for complete silence. With everyone
At this point students stood without prompting
sitting at attention I slowly raised my arm and
and began to give what amounted to
with a cupped hand I saluted. It was a silent
testimonials. Mr. Jones, for the first time Im
signal of recognition. They were something
learning lots of things. Mr. Jones, why dont
you teach like this all the time. I was shocked! hundred students were admitted into the order. I
Yes, I had been pushing information at them in felt very alone and a little scared.
an extremely controlled setting but the fact that
Most of my fear emanated from the incidence of
they found it comfortable and acceptable was
tattletaling. Though I formally appointed only
startling. It was equally disconcerting to realize
three students to report deviate behavior,
that complex and time consuming written
approximately twenty students came to me with
homework assignments on German life were
reports about how Allan didnt salute, or
being completed and even enlarged on by
Georgine was talking critically about our
students. Performance in academic skill areas
experiment. This incidence of monitoring meant
was significantly improving. They were learning
that half the class now considered it their duty to
more. And they seemed to want more. I began to
observe and report on members of their class.
think that the students might do anything I
Within this avalanche of reporting one
assigned. I decided to find out.
legitimate conspiracy did seem underway ....
To allow students the experience of direct action
Three women in the class had told their parents
I gave each individual a specific verbal
all about our classroom activities. These three
assignment. Its your task to design a Third
young women were by far the most intelligent
Wave Banner. You are responsible for stopping
students in the class. As friends they chummed
any student that is not a Third Wave member
together. They possessed a silent confidence and
from entering this room. I want you to remember
took pleasure in a school setting that gave them
and be able to recite by tomorrow the name and
academic and leadership opportunity. During the
address of every Third Wave Member. You are
days of the experiment I was curious how they
assigned the problem of training and convincing
would respond to the equalitarian and physical
at least twenty children in the adjacent
reshaping of the class. The rewards they were
elementary school that our sitting posture is
accustomed to winning just didnt exist in the
necessary for better learning. Its your job to
experiment. The intellectual skills of questioning
read this pamphlet and report its entire content
and reasoning were non existent. In the martial
to the class before the period ends. I want each
atmosphere of the class they seemed stunned and
of you to give me the name and address of one
pensive. Now that I look back, they appeared
reliable friend that you think might want to join
much like the child with so called learning
the Third Wave....
disability. They watched the activities and
To conclude the session on direct action, I participated in a mechanical fashion. Whereas
instructed students in a simple procedure for others jumped in, they held back, watching.
initiating new members. It went like this. A new
In telling their parents of the experiment they set
member had only to be recommended by an
up a brief chain of events. The rabbi for one of
existing member and issued a card by me. Upon
the parents called me at home. He was polite and
receiving this card the new member had to
condescending. I told him we were merely
demonstrate knowledge of our rules and pledge
studying the German personality. He seemed
obedience to them. My announcement unleashed
delighted and told me not to worry. He would
a fervor.
talk to the parents and calm their concern. In
The school was alive with conjecture and concluding this conversation I envisioned
curiosity. It affected everyone. The school cook similar conversations throughout history in
asked what a Third Wave cookie looked like. I which the clergy accepted and apologized for
said chocolate chip of course. Our principal untenable conditions. If only he would have
came into an afternoon faculty meeting and gave raged in anger or simply investigated the
me the Third Wave salute. I saluted back. The situation I could point the students to an
Librarian thanked me for the 30 banner on example of righteous rebellion. But no. The
learning which she placed above the library rabbi became a part of the experiment In
entrance. By the end of the day over two remaining ignorant of the oppression in the
experiment he became an accomplice and Wave had become the center of their existence. I
advocate. was in pretty bad shape myself. I was now
acting instinctively as a dictator. Oh I was
By the end of the third day I was exhausted. I
benevolent. And I daily argued to myself on the
was tearing apart. The balance between role
benefits of the learning experience. By this, the
playing and directed behavior became
fourth day of the experiment I was beginning to
indistinguishable. Many of the students were
lose my own arguments. As I spent more time
completely into being Third Wave Members.
playing the role I had less time to remember its
They demanded strict obedience of the rules
rational origins and purpose. I found myself
from other students and bullied those that took
sliding into the role even when it wasnt
the experiment lightly. Others simply sunk into
necessary. I wondered if this doesnt happen to
the activity and took self assigned roles. I
lots of people. We get or take an ascribed role
particularly remember Robert. Robert was big
and then bend our life to fit the image. Soon the
for his age and displayed very few academic
image is the only identity people will accept. So
skills. Oh he tried harder than anyone I know to
we become the image. The trouble with the
be successful. He handed in elaborate weekly
situation and role I had created was that I didnt
reports copied word for word from the reference
have time to think where it was leading. Events
books in the library. Robert is like so many kids
were crushing around me. I worried for students
in school that dont excel or cause trouble. They
doing things they would regret. I worried for
arent bright, they cant make the athletic teams,
myself.
and dont strike out for attention. They are lost.
invisible. The only reason I came to know Once again I faced the thoughts of closing the
Robert at all is that I found him eating lunch in experiment or letting it go its own course. Both
my classroom. He always ate lunch alone. options were unworkable. If I stopped the
experiment a great number of students would be
Well, the Third Wave gave Robert a place in
left hanging. They had committed themselves in
school. At least he was equal to everyone. He
front of their peers to radical behavior.
could do something. Take part. Be meaningful.
Emotionally and psychologically they had
Thats just what Robert did. Late Wednesday
exposed themselves. If I suddenly jolted them
afternoon I found Robert following me and
back to classroom reality I would face a
asked what in the world was he doing. He
confused student- body for the remainder of the
smiled (I dont think I had ever seen him smile)
year. It would be too painful and demeaning for
and announced, Mr. Jones Im your bodyguard.
Robert and the students like him to be twisted
Im afraid something will happen to you.
back into a seat and told its just a game. They
Can I do it Kr. Jones, please? Given that would take the ridicule from the brighter
assurance and smile I couldnt say no. I had a students that participated in a measured and
bodyguard. All day long he opened and closed cautious way. I couldnt let the Roberts lose
doors for me. He walked always on my right. again.
Just smiling and saluting other class members.
The other option of just letting the experiment
He followed me every- where. In the faculty
run its course was also out of the question.
room (closed to students) he stood at silent
Things were already getting out of control.
attention while I gulped some coffee. When
Wednesday evening someone had broken into
accosted by an English teacher for being a
the room and ransacked the place. (I later found
student in the teachers room her just smiled
out it was the father of one of the students. He
and informed the faculty member that he wasnt
was a retired air force colonel who had spent
a student. he was a body guard.
time in a German prisoner of war camp. Upon
STRENGTH THROUGH PRIDE hearing of our activity he simply lost control
Late in the evening he broke into the room and
On Thursday I began to draw the experiment to
a conclusion. I was exhausted and worried. tore it apart. I found him that morning propped
Many students were over the line. The Third up against the classroom door. He told me about
his friends that had been killed in Germany. He
was holding on to me and shaking. In staccato group of young people chosen to help in this
words he pleaded that I understand and help him cause. If you will stand up and display what You
get home. I called his wife and with the help of a have learned in the past four days...we can
neighbor walked him home. We spent hours change the destiny of this nation. We can bring
later talking about what he felt and did, but from it a new sense of order. community, pride and
that moment on Thursday morning I was more action. A new purpose. Everything rests with
concerned with what might be happening at you and your willingness to take a stand.
school.
To give validity to the seriousness of my words I
I was increasingly worried about how our turned to the three women in the class whom I
activity was affecting the faculty and other knew had questioned the Third Wave. I
students in the school. The Third Wave was demanded that they leave the room. I explained
disrupting normal learning. Students were why I acted and then assigned four guards to
cutting class to participate and the school escort the women to the library and to restrain
counselors were beginning to question every them from entering the class an Friday. Then in
student in the class. The real gestapo in the dramatic style I informed the class of a special
school was at work. Faced with this experiment noon rally to take place on Friday. This would
exploding in one hundred directions, I decided be a rally for Third Wave Members only.
to try an old basketball strategy. When youre
It was a wild gamble. I just kept talking. Afraid
playing against all the odds the best action to
that if I stopped someone would laugh or ask a
take is to try the unexpected. Thats what I did.
question and the grand scheme would dissolve in
By Thursday the class had swollen in size to chaos. I explained how at noon on Friday a
over eighty students. The only thing that allowed national candidate for president would announce
them all to fit was the enforced discipline of the formation of a Third Wave Youth Program.
sitting in silence at attention. A strange calm is Simultaneous to this announcement over 1000
in effect when a room full of people sit in quite youth groups from every part of the country
observation and anticipation. It helped me would stand up and display their support for
approach them in a deliberate way. I talked such a movement. I confided that they were the
about pride. Pride is more than banners or students selected to represent their area. I also
salutes. Pride Is something no one can take from questioned if they could make a good showing,
you. Pride is knowing you are the best... It cant because the press had been invited to record the
be destroyed ... event. No one laughed. There was not a murmur
of resistance. quite the contrary. A fever pitch of
In the midst of this crescendo I abruptly changed
excitement swelled across the room. We can do
and lowered my voice to announce the real
it! Should we wear white shirts? Can we
reason for the Third Wave. In slow methodic
bring friends? Mr. Jones, have you seen this
tone I explained what was behind the Third
advertisement in Time magazine?
Wave. The Third Wave isnt just an experiment
or classroom activity. Its far more important The clincher came quite by accident. It was a
than that. The Third Wave Is a nationwide full page color advertisement in the current issue
program to find students who are willing to fight of Time for some lumber products. The
for political change in this country. Thats right. advertiser identified his product as the Third
This activity we have been doing has been Wave. The advertisement proclaimed in big red,
practice for the real thing. Across the country white and blue letters, The Third Wave is
teachers like myself have been recruiting and coming. Is this part of the campaign, Mr.
training a youth brigade capable of showing the Jones? Is it a code or something? Yes.1
nation a better society through discipline, Now listen carefully.
community. pride, and action. If we can change
Its all set for tomorrow. Be in the small
the way that school is run, we can change the
auditorium ten minutes before 12:00. Be seated.
way that factories, stores, universities and all the
Be ready to display the discipline, community,
other institutions are run. You are a selected
and pride you have learned. Dont talk to anyone to breathe and even harder to talk. It was as if
about this. This rally is for members only. the climax of shouting souls had pushed
everything out of the room. I switched the
STRENGTH THROUGH UNDERSTANDING
television set on. I was now standing next to the
On Friday, the final day of the exercise, I spent television directly facing the room full of
the early morning preparing the auditorium for people. The machine came to life producing a
the rally. At eleven thirty students began to ant luminous field of phosphorus light. Robert was
their way into the room; at first a few scouting at my side. I whispered to him to watch closely
the way and then more. Row after row began to and pay attention to the next few minutes. The
fill. A hushed silence shrouded the room. Third only light in the room was coming from the
Wave banners hung like clouds over the television and it played against the faces in the
assembly. At twelve oclock sharp I closed the room. Eyes strained and pulled at the light but
room and placed guards at each door. Several the pattern didnt change. The room stayed
friends of mine posing as reporters and deadly still. Waiting. There was a mental tug of
photographers began to interact with the crowd war between the people in the room and the
taking pictures and jotting frantic descriptive television. The television won. The white glow
notes. A group photograph was taken. Over two of the test pattern didnt snap into the vision of a
hundred students were crammed into the room. political candidate. It just whined on. Still the
Not a vacant seat could be found. The group viewers persisted. There must be a program. It
seemed to be composed of students from many must be coming on. Where is it? The trance with
persuasions. There were the athletes, the social the television continued for what seemed like
prominents, the student leaders, the loners, the hours. It was 12:07. Nothing. A blank field of
group of kids that always left school early, the white. Its not going to happen. Anticipation
bikers, the pseudo hip, a few representatives of turned to anxiety and then to frustration.
the schools dadaist click, and some of the Someone stood up and shouted.
students that hung out at the laundromat. The
There isnt any leader is there? Everyone
entire collection however looked like one force
turned in shock. first to the despondent student
as they sat in perfect attention. Every person
and then back to the television. Their faces held
focusing on the T.V. set I had in the front of the
looks of disbelief.
room. No one moved. The room was empty of
sound. It was like we were all witness to a birth. In the confusion of the moment I moved slowly
The tension and anticipation was beyond belief. toward the television. I turned it off. I felt air
rush back into the room. The room remained in
Before turning on the national press
fixed silence but for the first time I could sense
conference, which begins in five minutes, I want
people breathing. Students were withdrawing
to demonstrate to the press the extent of our
their arms from behind their chairs. I expected a
training. With that, I gave the salute followed
flood of questions, but instead got intense
automatically by two hundred arms stabbing a
quietness. I began to talk. Every word seemed to
reply. I then said the words Strength Through
be taken and absorbed.
Discipline followed by a repetitive chorus. We
did this again, and again. Each time the response Listen closely, I have something important to
was louder. The photographers were circling the tell you. Sit down. There is no leader! There
ritual snapping pictures but by now they were is no such thing as a national youth movement
ignored. I reiterated the importance of this event called the Third Wave. You have been used.
and asked once more for a show of allegiance. It Manipulated. Shoved by your own desires into
was the last time I would ask anyone to recite. the place you now find yourself. You are no
The room rocked with a guttural cry, Strength better or worse than the German Nazis we have
Through Discipline. been studying.
It was 12:05. I turned off the lights in the room You thought that you were the elect. That you
and walked quickly to the television set. The air were better than those outside this room. You
in the room seemed to be drying up. It felt hard bargained your freedom for the comfort of
discipline and superiority. You chose to accept society. Replace reason with rules. Yes, we
that groups will and the big lie over your own would all have made good Germans. We would
conviction. Oh, you think to yourself that you have put on the uniform. Turned our head as
were just going along for the fun. That you friends and neighbors were cursed and then
could extricate yourself at any moment. But persecuted. Pulled the locks shut. Worked in the
where were you heading? How far would you defense plants. Burned ideas. Yes, we know in
have gone? Let me show you your future. a small way what it feels like to find a hero. To
grab quick solution. Feel strong and in control of
With that I switched on a rear screen projector.
destiny. We know the fear of being left out. The
It quickly illuminated a white drop cloth hanging
pleasure of doing something right and being
behind the television. Large numbers appeared
rewarded. To be number one. To be right. Taken
in a countdown. The roar of the Nuremberg
to an extreme we have seen and perhaps felt
Rally blasted into vision. My heart was
what these actions will lead to. we each have
pounding. In ghostly images the history of the
witnessed something over the past week. We
Third Reich paraded into the room. The
have seen that fascism is not just something
discipline. The march of super race. The big lie.
those other people did. No. its right here. In this
Arrogance, violence, terror. People being pushed
room. In our own personal habits and way of
into vans. The visual stench of death camps.
life. Scratch the surface and it appears.
Faces without eyes. The trials. The plea of
Something in all of us. We carry it like a
ignorance. I was only doing my job. My job. As
disease. The belief that human beings are
abruptly as it started the film froze to a halt on a
basically evil and therefore unable to act well
single written frame. Everyone must accept the
toward each other. A belief that demands a
blame No one can claim that they didnt in some
strong leader and discipline to preserve social
way take part.
order. And there is something else. The act of
The room stayed dark as the final footage of film apology.
flapped against the projector. I felt sick to my
This is the final lesson to be experienced. This
stomach. The room sweat and smelt like a locker
last lesson is perhaps the one of greatest
room. No one moved. It was as if everyone
importance. This lesson was the question that
wanted to dissect the moment, figure out what
started our plunge in studying Nazi life. Do you
had happened. Like awakening from a dream
remember the question? It concerned a
and deep sleep, the entire room of people took
bewilderment at the German populace claiming
one last look back into their consciousness. I
ignorance and non-involvement in the Nazi
waited for several minutes to let everyone catch
movement. If I remember the question. it went
up. Finally questions began to emerge. All of the
something like this. How could the German
questions probed at imaginary situations and
soldier, teacher, railroad conductor, nurse. tax
sought to discover the meaning of this event.
collector. the average citizen, claim at the end of
In the still darkened room I began the the Third Reich that they knew nothing of what
explanation. I confessed my feeling of sickness was going on. How can a people be a part of
and remorse. I told the assembly that a full something and then claim at the demise that they
explanation would take quite a while. But to were not really involved What causes people to
start. I sensed myself moving from an blank out their own history? In the next few
introspective participant in the event toward the minutes and perhaps years, you will have an
role of teacher. Its easier being a teacher. In opportunity to answer this question.
objective terms I began to describe the past
If our enactment of the Fascist mentality is
events.
complete not one of you will ever admit to being
Through the experience of the past week we at this final Third Wave rally. Like the Germans,
have all tasted what it was like to live and act in you will have trouble admitting to yourself that
Nazi Germany. We learned what it felt like to you come this far. You will not allow your
create a disciplined social environment. To build friends and parents to know that you were
a special society. Pledge allegiance to that willing to give up individual freedom and power
for the dictates of order and unseen leaders. You stream of exiting students. Some swirled back to
cant admit to being manipulated. Being a momentarily hold Robert and me. Others cried
follower. To accepting the Third Wave as a way openly and then brushed away tears to carry on.
of life. You wont admit to participating in this Human beings circling and holding each other.
madness. You will keep this day and this rally a Moving toward the door and the world outside.
secret. Its a secret I shall share with you.
For a week in the middle of a school year we
I took the film from the three cameras in the had shared fully in life. And as predicted we also
room and pulled the celluloid into the exposing shared a deep secret. In the four years I taught at
light. The deed was concluded. The trial was Cubberley High School no one ever admitted to
over. The Third Wave had ended. I glanced over attending the Third Wave Rally. Oh, we talked
my shoulder. Robert was crying. Students and studied our actions intently. But the rally
slowly rose from their Chairs and without words itself. No. It was something we all wanted to
filed into the outdoor light. I walked over to forget.
Robert and threw my arms around him. Robert
http://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/Auxiliary/Psych
was sobbing. Taking in large uncontrollable
ology/Frank/Thirdwave.html
gulps of air. Its over. its all right. In our
consoling each other we became a rock in the
Remembering the 3rd Wave
by Leslie Weinfield He dimmed the lights and played Wagnerian
music as students drifted in for class. Then
Peninsula, September 1991
Jones, a popular instructor who normally
Although the specter of fascist resurgence seems avoided even such regimentation as taking roll,
largely forgotten in the euphoria of German told his students that he could give them the
reunification, it may not be far beneath the keys to power and success - Strength Through
peaceful veneer of that nation, or any other, for Discipline.
that matter. Even the most ostensibly free and
It was thoroughly out of character for Ron
open societies are not immune to fascisms lure -
Jones to say Lets help the class out with a little
including places like Palo Alto.
more discipline, recalls a former student Philip
What came to be known as the Third Wave Neel, now a television producer in Los Angeles.
began at Cubberly High School in Palo Alto as But because Jones was an interesting teacher,
a game without any direct reference to Nazi the class went along.
Germany, says Ron Jones, who had just begun
Classmate Mark Hancock remembers Jones
his first teaching job in the 1966-67 academic
adding a political cast and a set of incentives
year. When a social studies student asked about
soon thereafter. It was something like, if
the German publics responsibility for the rise of
youre a good party member and play the game
the Third Reich, Jones decided to try and
well, you can get an A. If you have a revolution
simulate what happened in Germany by having
and fail, you get an F. For a successful
his students basically follow instructions for a
revolution, you get an A, recounts Hancock,
day.
currently a regional development director for a
But one day turned into five, and what happened Los Angeles property company.
by the end of the school week spawned several
Jones next commanded the class to assume a
documentaries, studies and related social
new seating posture to strengthen student
experiments illuminating a dark side of human
concentration and will: feet flat on the floor,
nature - and a major weakness in public
hands across the small of the back, spines
education.
straight. And he added speed drills, after which
Before students arrived for class on Monday, the entire group could move from loitering
Jones vigorously cleaned his classroom and outside the room to silent, seated attention in
arranged the desks in unusually straight rows. less than 30 seconds.
Even when we started with Strength Through Jones named it the Third Wave, and - despite its
Discipline, it was easy for me to see the benefits similarity to Third Reich - claims he borrowed
of the posture, remarks Steve Coniglio, who the term from beach folklore, which holds that
now helps run a Truckee retail store. Even on the last wave in every series of three is the
that very first day, I could notice that I was largest.
breathing better. I was more attentive in class.
Students acknowledging each other this way in
Jones closed the first days session with a few the halls attracted the attention of upper
rules. Students had to be sitting at attention classmen, who clamored to know the salutes
before the second bell, had to stand up to ask or significance, Coniglio says. Cubberley students
answer questions and had to do it in three words began skipping their regular classes, asking to be
or less, and were required to preface each part of the Third Wave. In three days Jones
remark with Mr. Jones. class had expanded to 60 students.
At the end of that day, I was grandly happy. I After telling the enlarged class that strength is
mean, it seemed to work and everyone seemed fine, now you must act, Jones assigned
to get into it, Jones still marvels. Grades were everyone a task to be completed that day. Some
based on participation, and no one accepted the were to memorize the names and addresses of
study hall alternative that Jones offered prior to everyone in the group; others were to make
commencing the exercise that day. But neither Third Wave banners, armbands and membership
did anyone make a connection to the German cards. And since that days theme was Strength
history lessons theyd just completed. Most of Through Action, everyone was to proselytize.
us were headed toward college, says Hancock.
By days end Coniglio says banners were all
It wasnt Nazi German life that mattered, it was
over the school, including a 20 footer in the
Palo Alto grades.
library. Members brought in some 200 converts
Jones says he assumed the class would return to from other classes to be sworn in.
its usual format the next day. But when I came
It just swept through the school, recalls Jones,
in, the class was all sitting... His voice trails off
who is still teaching, now at the San Francisco
as his body snaps to military attention.
Recreation Center for the Handicapped. It was
Jones considered calling a halt, but then went to like walking on slippery rock...by the third or
the blackboard and wrote Strength Through fourth day, there was an obvious explosion of
Community below the previous days slogan, emotion that I couldnt control.
Strength Through Discipline.
Several boys were assigned to protect Jones as
I began to lecture on community - something he walked the schools corridors, wearing Third
bigger than oneself, something enjoyable. They Wave armbands to signify their responsibility.
really bought that argument, Jones recalls.
It was a black band. When I went home, it got
A powerful sense of belonging had sprung up my parents worried, says Steve Benson, now a
among lowly sophomores at the bottom of the Palo Alto mechanic. They thought it was the
rung of the three-year school, and Jones admits equivalent of the SS. Although his mother
he soon became a part of the exercise as well as called Jones to express her concern, the teacher
its leader. reassured her it was merely a class exercise.
It was really a mistake, a terrible thing to do. Everyone involved in the Third Wave received a
My curiosity pulled me in at first, and then I membership card, three of which Jones
liked it. They learned fast, didnt ask questions. randomly marked with an X. Those holding the
It was easier as a teacher. marked cards were told to note who transgressed
class rules, which now dictated such matters as
As his Strength Through Community lecture
what campus paths members could walk and
ended, he created a class salute by bringing his
with whom they could associate.
right hand toward his right shoulder in an
outwardly curled position, resembling a wave.
There were three or four stoolies, Jones In addition to the names supplied by student
explains bluntly. I wanted to see how this was enforcers, Jones would also pull indictments
being taken outside of class. from his shirt pocket - slips of paper from which
he would then read names and alleged offenses,
By the end of four days, approximately half the
Hancock says.
class had approached Jones with detailed
information about the transgressions of others, No matter who fingered them, the accused stood
ranging from improper salutes to coup plots immediately. A few were let off, but many were
against him. convicted by a class shouting, Guilty! and sent
into library exile. Mistrust blossomed even
It was phenomenal. There was a whole
there. Hancock recalls an acquaintance later
underground of activity. People were assigning
telling him she thought hed turned her in
themselves as guards, Jones says. I knew
because she was caught a day after they had a
exactly what was going on in class because of
brief, innocuous conversation.
this strange snitching that was going on.
Hancock subsequently asked Jones about the
There was betrayal among teens who had been
indictments, only to learn the accusations were
close friends since childhood. A group of
usually fabricated. Not only did he cause us to
buddies could be sharing a cigarette in the
convict our peers, hed just pick a name and get
bathroom, discussing a plan to kidnap Jones
em convicted, say Hancock. As long as that
the next day and fulfill the exercises
level of fear was there, the system was
requirement for a top grade, but it wouldnt
working.
happen, say Coniglio. Somebody - one of
those two or three - would inform Ron Jones of Adding to the ferment was the dawn of antiwar
the plot. activism. Third Wave meeting announcements
and instructions on daily activity were read over
This is exactly what happened to Hancock, who
the P.A. system, regularly followed by calls for
told several friends he had bought a cap pistol to
revolution or radical social change. The polar
school to earn an A with mock assassination.
extremes only added to the confusion of the
Jones gave him a stern look in class while
teens, from many of whom a Vietnam draft call
reminding the group of the penalties for
was looming.
disloyalty; Hancock dropped the ideas and to
this day cannot identify his betrayer. You were either radical or you werent. You
couldnt be in the middle. Perhaps we were
Jones was able to stop a lot of lines of
ready to be molded, Coniglio shrugs. We
communication between people. Thats how he
were caught between extremes that were getting
made his power. He was keeping us under his
all the attention.
thumb very effectively, say Hancock.
Something of an underground existed within the
Jones also selected an official but anonymous
Third Wave, but Hancock says it had as much
secret police group to help enforce Third
effect as protesting against the Nazi regime in
Wave rules in and out of school. These students
Germany.
enjoyed the assistance of a tough, leather-
jacketed campus car club known as The One of the undergrounds main problems was
Executors, who had been attracted to the Third that Jones kept changing the rules established
Wave. Both groups - along with regular Third early in the experiment, and simply ignored
Wave members - denounced their classmates for several attempts at the revolution whose
a raft of real and imagined transgressions. perpetrators had been promised an A. Hancock
says some desperate conspirators even
The paranoia was really strange, Coniglio
considered a mass hit with Mattel machine
says. People were finking, and you had to
guns concealed in lunch bags, but Jones got
make your own choice that way - whether you
wind of it and rescheduled the student assembly
would tell.
at which the assassination was to have taken
place.
By the fifth day, the sheer volume of student several friends he had posing as reporters and
migration to Jones class was disrupting normal photographers.
school routines and raised his concern that
Then Jones dimmed the lights, snapped the
matters had gotten out of control.
television set on and left the room.
Besides reports about students who failed to
Students waited with rapt attention for a vision
salute properly, Jones received word that three
of the future, but the screen stayed blank.
of the exercises biggest skeptics were about to
get beaten up. All three had told their parents Everybodys eyes began to go like this,
about the Third Wave; one familys rabbi even Hancock says, darting his eyes frantically from
called Jones at home with questions, but side to side. After looking around a few
accepted Jones vague answers without delving minutes, Hancock says he realized in a daze that
too deeply. there werent any bodyguards, there wasnt any
Jones. We were all just sitting at discipline.
I was hoping he would come in with a
tremendous amount of rage, say Jones. I kept For Coniglio, the gray faces staring at the gray
hoping someone would walk in and ask what screen triggered his most potent image of World
was going on, so I could point to them and say, War II - the gas chambers.
Thats right, look what youre doing, youve
I thought, My God, were all dead. He yelled,
become just like fascists and end it. But it Im getting out of here, and ran for the back
didnt happen. doors, which he thought would be locked like in
Some parents did warn their children not to the concentration camp ovens. But the doors
attend the class, which only reinforced student opened, and Coniglio was surprised to encounter
desires to participate, says Coniglio. a normal spring day at lunch hour. Music was
coming from the quad, flowers were blooming
For his part, Jones easily disposed of the few
and a warm breeze was blowing.
polite parent inquiries by describing the Third
Wave as a class exercise. Even teachers at the Back inside, Jones returned to shut off the
school did not question it while it was going on, television and take a position at a microphone on
he notes. stage, while a movie montage of World War II
scenes flashed onto a large screen behind him.
Jones decided he had to end the experiment
immediately, but without losing the point of the There is no Third Wave movement, no leader,
lesson. He had the three skeptics escorted to the he told the stunned audience. You and I are no
library for their own safety, and then told those better or worse than the citizens of the Third
remaining that the Third Wave was more than an Reich. We would have worked in the defense
exercise, that it was more than just a game. plants. We will watch our neighbors be taken
away, and do nothing, Jones said, referring to
In fact, Jones said, they were a local cell of a
the three skeptics exiled to the library for the
select youth movement recruiting students
crime of disbelief. Were just like those
nationwide. More than 1,000 such groups would
Germans. We would give our freedom up for
rise up during a special noon rally that day to
the chance of being special.
support a national presidential candidate, one
who would announce a Third Wave Youth Neel remembers that everybody just sat there a
Program to bring the country a new sense of long time. Then everyone went their own way.
order, community, pride and action. No one wanted to talk about it. I think I
remember a couple of people sitting there, not
By noon, students were crammed into the lecture
moving.
hall, backs ramrod straight, eyes riveted to a
television set in the front of the room. With the Nazi is always a dirty word when youre
car club toughs guarding the door, Jones led the growing up, but when you get hit with it, that
group in chants and salutes for the benefit of youve become one, its a very shocking
statement.
Several students were crying. Barbara Miller comments. Good experiences arent
Moore, a Third Wave member who did not necessarily pleasant. Ive often thought about it,
attend the rally, recalls seeing several people and Im glad I had it. I would want my kids to
walking away in shock. Steve was pale, she have it.
remembers of Coniglio. I was worried about
Many parents also supported Jones and the
him. He as always exceptionally sensitive. I
exercise, regardless of whether they had children
didnt know what would happen to him.
involved. They went to bat for him two years
The salutes ended with the rally; membership later, when he was denied tenure for reasons
cards turned to litter and attention to Vietnam. ostensibly unrelated to the Third Wave.
But memories of the one-week experiment
Jones was an outstanding and creative teacher
remain strong 25 years later.
whose principal effort was to teach children to
It hurts so much when I realized Id been so think for themselves, says Joseph Pickering, an
fooled, but then, that was the lesson, remarks interested parent. Jones had excellent character
Coniglio. Upon subsequent reflection, he says and the highest motives.
he realized it was one of the most valuable
The experiment generated a great deal of debate
lessons Ive ever had in my life. How often are
among Jones fellow teachers, however, with
you - as a 16 year old- not only able to learn
several arguing it was not his place to expose
about history, but to participate in it?
students to such emotional wrenching.
Although Neel remembers feeling frightened
To a certain extent, they were right, Jones
before the rally a the thought of linking up with
agrees, although he considers any negative
a national movement, he says peer pressure
impacts to have been temporary and the risks
overcame his doubts, along with his regard for
worthwhile.
Jones and the climate of the times.
Bernard Oliver, president of the school board
A big reason I went along with it was my trust
that denied Jones tenure, objected to Jones
for Jones, Neel says. Moveover, he was just
teaching style for different reasons.
beginning to feel bitter about Vietnam, and part
of the experiment seemed like we could change We were upset with his performance largely
the government responsible for hurting us. because the subject matter was not being taught.
There was a feeling something really remarkable If you werent concerned about basic values, his
was going to happen, going on throughout the teaching was OK. Its easy to load up classes
country - that the movement was going to with excitement, things kids like. While this
change politics, change the structure of school. impresses many parents, it can also be one-sided
The combination of everything made it happen, and far removed from traditional values, Oliver
and boy, did it happen. adds.
For student Alyssa Hess Reit, the conclusion of Jones Third Wave also caught the attention of
the Third Wave experiment led to some heartfelt Stanford University psychologist Philip
compassion and empathy for the Germans. It Zimbardo, whose famous prison experiment
seemed very clear that if a bunch of high school several years later resulted in college students
students from Palo Alto who had everything - lapsing into sadism and eventual emotional
nothing to lose - could be so easily pulled in, breakdown after being assigned the role of guard
knowing it was just a game, it was clear what it in prison.
mustve been like for real people losing jobs and Situations exert much more influence over
families, she says. Thats not to say there human behavior than people acknowledge,
werent ways to resist or that they couldnt, but
explains Zimbardo, who has invited Jones to
we didnt even know how to go about it. speak to classes many times.
Reit says she knows of no one who was Although the tendency runs counter to Western
damaged by the Third Wave. Jones helped
ideas of individual responsibility, Zimbardo
wake us up, and Ive always been grateful, she
points to two real-life incidents to prove his
point - the U.S. massacre of civilians at My Lai,
and postwar tests conducted on concentration
camp guards that revealed no subsequent
propensity for violence.
Its an unpleasant message people dont like to
hear. But unless youre aware of the
vulnerability, you dont recognize how easy it is
for simulation to become reality, for the uniform
to dominate the person.
Third Wave veterans agree.
When he started rewarding people, I could see
how that goes a long way toward influencing
them, Neel says. I could see how people
would be susceptible to that kind of behavior
and would go along with it. You want to please
your teachers, your peers and you dont want to
fail.
Although Jones says he would never repeat the
Third Wave, he insists it could easily happen
today, anywhere in the United States, for a
variety of reasons.
Fascism is always a possibility because its so
simple and people are frustrated. They lose their
jobs, their dignity, their sense of worth, and
someone comes along and says, Ive got the
answer.
School systems prepare the ground, Jones says
by using only standardized tests for success and
failing to recognize alternative paths of learning,
as well as a wider variety of individual
achievements.
Educational institutions weed out troublemakers
and those who are difficult to teach, he contends,
rewarding placid students who want to succeed
at any cost and will accept authority.
Thats the sad thing. Teachers can trigger it by
telling students theyre special, theyre part of a
community, that they can do special things. All
they have to give is their loyalty, Jones
concludes. It happens every day in school,
only the paraphernalia isnt there. Kids arent
learning to ask questions. You create a
population where freedoms just a spelling
word.
http://www.ronjoneswriter.com/wave.html