The Third Wave was an experiment in 1967 that was lead by Ron Jones, then a young teacher at Palo Alto High School. Yes, this experiment took place in California, right near here, more than 50 years ago. Jones was teaching his students about the Holocaust and the inaction of the German population. His students could not grapple with the idea that people could accept and perpetuate such a terrible ideology. In response, Jones believed that an experiment in fascism might teach them better than anything he could recall from history. So began a four-day experiment where a group of high school students became a microcosm for the fascist regime of the past.
On the first day, Jones began with extensive drilling of his students and proper seating. They were told to sit up straight and greet him uniformly when he entered the class. They were told to address him as Mr. Jones and be proper with asking and answering questions. In addition, one of the provisions for the experiment was that if the students went along, they would get an A, and if they tried to overthrow him, they’d get an F. If they did not want to participate, they would be sent to the library. In addition, they were told this movement was one that was going to overthrow democracy. Ethically, this was of course questionable. However, it had the effect that Jones had intended.
Jones initially planned the experiment to only last one day, but it didn’t. On the second day, the class had adopted a strong sense of discipline and community, and were taught a salute similar to Hitler salute of the old Nazi regime. They were told to salute each other outside of class as well. The students were told that the experiment extended to outside of school, and any student who did not comply with this would be punished.
By the third day, the experiment had gathered a following, expanding past just his class to students who had a free period and were interested in this event. More elements were adopted, such as member cards and tasks for the members. Jones was surprised when members began to approach him with information on other members who were not fulfilling their responsibilities. The class had tremendous motivation by this point, and each student’s academic scores had improved.
The fourth day was when Jones decided the experiment had gone out of his control, and needed to end. He falsely announced that this was a nationwide movement, and a presidential candidate would be revealed the next day.
On the final day Jones revealed the candidate, which was just a static screen, and then told his students about the implications of the experiment. He then played a video on the Nazis. Some students had their suspicions confirmed about the experiment, while others were horrified at their descent into fascism. They all realized the power of the such a movement, and while his means definitely were not justified, Jones had taught them a valuable lesson about the motivations of the German people. It goes to show that the reality of the past is different from the lens we see it through from the future, and there is more the issue than meets the eye.
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