This Blog is a resource tool for the students taking the "FACING HISTORY AND OURSELVES" elective at Westborough High School, Westborough, Massachusetts.
Monday, October 3, 2011
PERIOD 3 - CLASS DIVIDED
You have been watching the documentary, "A Class Divided." Please post a reflective comment about the film and what did you personally take away from the film?
42 comments:
Jenna Kelley
said...
The "Class Divided" showed a very well conducted experiment. I thought that it was good what the teacher did because the kids will take the lessons that they learned with them for the rest of their lives. Even though some people critized the teacher for doing the experiment with "innocent" white kids, I think that it was the right thing to do. 3rd grade is the perfect age because they are still young but they are also able to understand it. I think the experiment had a huge impact on them. I dont think people should have been critizing the teacher for what she did. This film had a large impact on me and I hope that may kids were affected from the experiment in a positive way.
Mrs. Elliot, from my perspective, is a "silent" hero in a way. She changed the lives of those third graders and generations to come by conducting an experiment in class. Even such a small detail as eye color made kids feel superior or depressed and angry, depending on which eye color (blue or brown) was superior or inferior. Conducting this experiment, I found, was very interesting because third graders are still very young and probably did not completely grasp the racial discrimination of the time. I was shocked, though, by the reaction of the kids and this exercise was truly a microcosm to the real world.
I agree with Jenna when she said that she did not believe that parents and other people should have criticized Mrs. Elliot for conducting the experiment. Mrs. Elliot was the only person to take a stand to discrimination unlike a lot of other people who were just bystanders to the entire situation.
This video was very interesting and it showed a national problem through the eyes of 3rd graders. These innocent children were able to discriminate against each other within hours after the start of the experiment. Mrs Elliot had a great idea and she was able to show how bad discrimination is to a young group of kids. I would agree that every school should conduct this experiment so kids grow up knowing not to discriminate.
I think that the experiment Mrs. Elliot conducted was very admirable. She was willing to risk her social status in order to make sure her students truly understood the evils of racism. She did something brave and unusual and she was rewarded by the results of her experiment. The children never forgot how it felt to be segregated like that and it drew national attention to the issue of racism.
I think this video proved a lot to society. I think it proved that if you whites are not taught what discrimination is at a young age, then they will never truly know what it feels like. These kids are innocent at this age and they don't really understand the impact that discrimination has on people. This experiment stuck with these people for over 15 years. That itself proves how beneficial and important this experiment truly was. It not only taught about what discrimination was, it showed them. This experiment will leave a huge impact on these kids as opposed to just teaching them about what is going on in society at this time. I think this experiment should have been done much more often at this time because preforming this experiment would have changed the kids lives forever.
This movie to me showed exactly how racism continues through generations, and how you can sometimes reverse it. Those kids weren't naturally prejudice, they had just had the idea of discrimination beaten into them by their parents or other adult figures in their lives. I think that by reversing people's ways of thinking by showing them an experiment such as this or by whatever, they would introduce that way of thinking to their children, and those children would for their children, and if you got enough people to begin the proliferation, the non-prejudice way of thinking would soon be prevalent in our society. Basically the idea from that movie "Pay it Forward" but instead of good deeds its just a mind-set.
I loved this movie. I went home and told my mom and little sister about it. They were so interested in it. I have such high respect for that teacher and how she resounded ti those kids and the rude parents. She was very brave and strong with her opinion and keeping it the same throughout the insults and negative responses. It was very inspiring
I agree with Caroline on how Mrs. Elliott should be happy and proud with what she did because she provided the kids with a non-prejudice way of thinking while risking her social status at the same time. She "reversed" the way the kids were thinking just by doing the experiment. She should not be looked down on for doing what she did. She helped the kids to stop thinking like their parents and everyone else in the world.
I think this film is excellent and everyone in school should see it. It shows numerous examples of racism and how dangerous innocent people may become when convinced that they are superior to others. The thing that stood out most to me about this film is how quickly these kind and caring 3rd graders turned into "little Nazis" or very racist individuals. I was actually some what shocked that just because some of the children were told that they were better than another group of children that they would turn on their friends so quickly and treat them so badly. I guess this goes to show you that "absolute power corrupts absolutely" or that any one who thinks they are superior to others will exercise their power over them. This film also shows how prejudice and superiority and inferiority are completely mental elements. No type of person is better than any other but only the thought that one is greater than another exists.
Kids are fasinating in the way that they are blindly truthful, not knowing right from wrong. This is what made the experiment to work so well because the kids openly knew there was something wrong with segregating people by eye-color.Also it was very interesting that the kids acedemic preformance got worse when they were chosen to be the "minority" group. What Ms. Lee did was truly remarkable.
I took away from the film that kids are really secretive on picking up the habits of their parents and then express the same feelings to their own lives but don't even understand the meaning of what they do.
After watching "The Class Divided" film today in class, I was impressed by Mrs. Elliot thought process in coming up to conduct the eye experiment with her 3rd grade class. I think it was amazing that she was able to teach these kids a different way of thinking about racism in such a short time. They were able to learn lessons that they will stick with them for the rest of there lives, and sure have even 14 years later. Even though there was a large majority of people who felt it was wrong to do this experiment with such young kids, I think that it was perfect age. These kids were old enough to understand what was going on young enough for this kind of experiment to really impact and affect their way of thinking. I was definitely positively affected by this film and it will also stay with me for the rest of my life.
I also agree with Laura. I think Mrs. Eliot was definitely like a "silent" hero in a way. She was able to single-handedly change the lives of those third graders and generation to come. I too was shocked by the reactions of the children and I couldn't believe that something so little as their eye color was able to transform these kids into discriminating children.
I thought the film was a little hard for 3 graders to take in at such a young age and it would be hard for them to understand. But after seeing that they went through it and after the exercise they seem to understand the situation a lot better. I also wondered why the teacher would take on such a tough tasks to make the kids understand but she seemed to want to and make the kids understand what was going on in the world around them.
I thought that the film was very interesting. The fact that the children changed their view of the world in a matter of days was amazing. The experiment worked well and although it did not have a dramatic impact on the immediate town, it changed the lives of the students that went through it. The lesson continues with the students so their children may learn the same way.
I agree with James (Jim) that the kids are brought into discrimination by their parents. The parents tell them what is right and wrong and if they think being friends with a black person is wrong than the kids will think it is wrong. They will think it is wrong because they think their parents are right and are showing them the right thing to do in life when it is not always true.
I thought the film “Class Divided” was very moving. The children thought segregation and racism was wrong, but when they were at the “top” of the class because of their eye color, their attitude changed. I thought it was very interesting to see how they treated the “other” group and how much they changed over a span of one day. I think that this was a very startling and important observational experiment and it was very moving.
While watching the documentary "Class Divided", I thought that Mrs. Elliot's students would not really understand how to extend their superiority over the other little kids. I really thought that the students would just kind of ignore it and go play with their friends regardless of the lesson. By seeing how they really took on that role of superiority, it was truly shocking. To see a little boy go against his best friend and even punch him in the gut over a lesson, gave me a sense of sadness. I felt sadness because even at such a young age, a person can be manipulated in a way that they will betray a friend. I understand its for a lesson, but to see the seriousness in which the kids took the lesson, it was very interesting.
Today we watched kids not only discuss racism, but really get to experience it. I never thought that an idea so simple would be executed so well. But the kids behavior on the first day and the second day shows the change in their characteristics. I would hope that more schools around the country, or the world even would teach this. If everyone knew what it felt like to be discriminated against then maybe people would think twice people acting a certain way to a certain person. You can really see the impact of living through something rather than just talking about it. The best part for me was seeing the whole class united hand in hand at the end of the movie. That was the best thing that I have ever seen. To see that no matter what we can all live in harmony is quite beautiful to me in a way. This was a great film.
I thought the lesson taught by Ms. Elliot was very influential to her students and to viewers who watched the kids' reactions. She presented racism to the class so that they would personally feel what is was like to be judged based on physical appearance. The results simulate what blacks feel in society. I think the use of 3rd graders was especially effective becauuse their ability to quickly interpert the situation as unfair makes adults seem ignorant: they can't see the unjust treatment, yet a class full of elementary students can see that discrimination is unfair. I think Ms. Elliot was very brave and inspiring.
I think Mrs. Elliot did the right thing by teaching a lesson the way it needed to be taught. What makes her a hero is she kept teaching the lesson for years even after people started treating her and her family unjustly. I didn't know whether to laugh or be really angry when they talked about the parents of these kids being mad and complaining of how cruel it was for the teacher to put them through this for just a couple of hours, while they put the blacks through much worse things everyday. I don't get how they can't see what they are doing is so wrong especially after knowing how they felt when someone gave only a little taste of their own medicine to their kids.
I agree with Jenna, the age that she performed the experiment on was the perfect age. These kids were old enough to understand the basic principle but not so old they would know exactly what is going on and refuse. I think this teacher did a very smart and brave thing and I do believe it should be taught across the world because everyone could learn something from this experiment.
The teacher in the film, The Class Divided, was creative in teching racism and discrimnation and how it is spread out so easily. She does so very well. I felt that she taught the lesson in a way hat her students can fulky understand the feeling of being discrimniated against and hated for something so little.
I agree with Kate, by teaching and speading he word on racism and discrimnation to children at a young age it will spread out and thus will eventually prevent it. If this lersson was not taught then kids will have no filter on what they say or do. They also would lose their moral values and wil start to develop hatred toward others for such minute reasons.
I agree with David Ros that she was extremely creative in how she taught these kids racism. Out of all the ways she could have told them that racism is bad, having them experience the discrimination has a lot bigger of an impact.
After watching the film for the second day, I am still amazed by Mrs. Elliot. She convinced mature adults, some the same age as her and same older, that if they had brown eyes than they were superior to the rest of the adults who had blue eyes. Within fifteen minutes she had the blue eyed adults feeling troubled, irritated, and upset that they did not have a voice or opinion. Mrs. Elliot played her role brilliantly and convinced well educated adults, for about an hour and a half, that they were either superior or inferior depending on their eye color.
While watching the Class Divided video, I found it quite interesting that one woman, Mrs. Elliot, could brainwash these children so easily and molded their minds into being superior or inferior based on something as simple as eye color in the matter of a couple hours, and when she did so, the children would feed into the social division that she created. On the second day, when the adults took the same course, I was shocked that Mrs. Elliot was able to do the exact same thing with these educated people who already have set viewpoints on things. Not only did she change their viewpoints, but created the exact same situation as the children, where the superior people would act superior and the inferior people would get defensive and aggressive. These scenarios are real-world situations scaled down into a classroom, and they are amazingly accurate.
I agree with Laura that after watching the second part of the film that Mrs. Elliott did a wonderful job trying to get the adults to believe what she was saying. She played her role perfectly and was able to have an impact on them. She opened their eyes to the prejudice that blacks and other minorities were facing everyday. Some of the correction officers really understood what it was like to be in their place. After going through Mrs. Elliott`s experiment, I think that the adults will never again discriminate against someone because they understand how that person will feel.
I agree with Nick that it is very sad to see that these kids liked the feeling of being superior. It shows how easy it can be to take advantage of your superiority. For example when Mr. Gallagher told us that a part that got cut out of the movie was when a child asked the teacher to call the lunch lady to tell her to make sure that the brown eye's could not go back for seconds. This shows that even at a young age the pleasure of superiority can shine through. When given the opportunity to be "better" then someone else, the children took advantage of it and got the same satisfaction that the whites got over the blacks.
I found the little old lady just totally ripping on these big security guards who you could tell never really took anything of that sorts to be hilarious. I was surprised that not more of the other brown eyed people had been laughing as their colleagues got more and more flustered by these stereotypes that the teacher was (from an outside point of view) obviously making up as she went. You could tell that for most of the people in that room that they would remember that day for the rest of their lives.
After watching the adults in the experiment I was shocked at what I saw. It was hilarious to see them getting frustrated with each other. I found it very surprising however that the brown eyed people discriminated the blue eyed people, who would have thought that the adults wouldn't catch onto the experiment. This shows that discrimination is a huge problem because Mrs Elliot was able to change the minds of the class in under an hour.
I can not decide which film segment I find more surprising the one about the 3rd graders or the film segment where the same experiment was done on adults. I really thought the segment with the adults seemed almost fake to me and unreal because I am still shocked at the way in which these adults acted. I can not believe that fully grown men and women would just sit and not do anything when they were clearly being treated badly because of their eye color. I also can not believe that the people who had the opposite eye color did not stand up for their coworkers. Although I am glad these people experienced this experiment I really do hope they took something positive away from it because the way they acted scared me quite frankly. It scares me that one witty older woman could make a room full of adults act like children and no longer think for themselves.
It was interesting film that discriminate or segregate with eye colors. Brown or blue, which one of the color is superior. By letting the students experience the discrimination with eye color, Mrs. Elliot gave huge impact on them. Also I think Mrs. Elliot gave good lesson to the students directly and it is effective lesson to them.
The video "Class Divided" was very interesting, I thought that Mrs. Elliot had a very good experiment going on, in which it was clearly very effective in the lives of those young kids. Even during the class reunion you could tell that the kids were impacted by her experiment and, there ways of seeing and treating other people were essentially changed.
I agree with Erica, about how this was a great age of kids for Mrs. Elliot to do the experiment with because they still understand and hold onto these types of things, while older kids and adults may still learn from this experiment but might not be as quick to learn like these third graders.
I had seen this movie in Hebrew school a couple years back, but had a very differently reaction to it this time around. You can make a lot out of the actions of 3rd graders, but when the experiment was done on the adults in the training program at the prison, I found it amazing. It was funny and eye-opening at the same time. I could tell that some of the inferior people actually were taking the exercise personally, and emotionally reacting to the discrimination they were facing. What may have seemed humorous was actually these people displaying how uncomfortable they were in the given situation. I could tell that none of those people, no matter what they say, had ever experienced that level of discrimination in their lives. It came as a shock to them, and through their actions, it was obvious that they could not believe how tough life must be for someone who has to face that every day.
I like how Tyler pointed out that Mrs. Elliot was a true hero, considering she continued to teach this lesson despite constant threats and discrimination against herself and her family. She was willing to take a lot in order to try and get her message across to as many people as possible
I thought this film was interesting in its ability to reduce the human condition to such a raw state at the third grade level. Although the students are influenced by their parents and their prejudices, they have no significant grasp on what racism truly is. Thus, it was remarkable to see such pure and unadulterated reactions to the principle of racism and discrimination.
I thought this movie was really interesting because i thought it was crazy how quickly people turn around and start being mean when someone tells them that someone is superior such as when she told them blue eyes were better or brown eyes. I also think its amazing how young of an age kids start noticing whats wrong and whats right and if all teachers did this students would notice at a young age that were all the same we just have a different color. I also thought it was even more crazy when she did the experiment with adults and they acted the exact same the 3rd graders did.
I agree with Caroline she was really brave for doing the experiment when she knew she was going to be discriminated she still did it because she wanted to show her children that were all the same.
42 comments:
The "Class Divided" showed a very well conducted experiment. I thought that it was good what the teacher did because the kids will take the lessons that they learned with them for the rest of their lives. Even though some people critized the teacher for doing the experiment with "innocent" white kids, I think that it was the right thing to do. 3rd grade is the perfect age because they are still young but they are also able to understand it. I think the experiment had a huge impact on them. I dont think people should have been critizing the teacher for what she did. This film had a large impact on me and I hope that may kids were affected from the experiment in a positive way.
I was absent from class on Monday.
Mrs. Elliot, from my perspective, is a "silent" hero in a way. She changed the lives of those third graders and generations to come by conducting an experiment in class. Even such a small detail as eye color made kids feel superior or depressed and angry, depending on which eye color (blue or brown) was superior or inferior. Conducting this experiment, I found, was very interesting because third graders are still very young and probably did not completely grasp the racial discrimination of the time. I was shocked, though, by the reaction of the kids and this exercise was truly a microcosm to the real world.
I agree with Jenna when she said that she did not believe that parents and other people should have criticized Mrs. Elliot for conducting the experiment. Mrs. Elliot was the only person to take a stand to discrimination unlike a lot of other people who were just bystanders to the entire situation.
This video was very interesting and it showed a national problem through the eyes of 3rd graders. These innocent children were able to discriminate against each other within hours after the start of the experiment. Mrs Elliot had a great idea and she was able to show how bad discrimination is to a young group of kids. I would agree that every school should conduct this experiment so kids grow up knowing not to discriminate.
I think that the experiment Mrs. Elliot conducted was very admirable. She was willing to risk her social status in order to make sure her students truly understood the evils of racism. She did something brave and unusual and she was rewarded by the results of her experiment. The children never forgot how it felt to be segregated like that and it drew national attention to the issue of racism.
I think this video proved a lot to society. I think it proved that if you whites are not taught what discrimination is at a young age, then they will never truly know what it feels like. These kids are innocent at this age and they don't really understand the impact that discrimination has on people. This experiment stuck with these people for over 15 years. That itself proves how beneficial and important this experiment truly was. It not only taught about what discrimination was, it showed them. This experiment will leave a huge impact on these kids as opposed to just teaching them about what is going on in society at this time. I think this experiment should have been done much more often at this time because preforming this experiment would have changed the kids lives forever.
This movie to me showed exactly how racism continues through generations, and how you can sometimes reverse it. Those kids weren't naturally prejudice, they had just had the idea of discrimination beaten into them by their parents or other adult figures in their lives. I think that by reversing people's ways of thinking by showing them an experiment such as this or by whatever, they would introduce that way of thinking to their children, and those children would for their children, and if you got enough people to begin the proliferation, the non-prejudice way of thinking would soon be prevalent in our society. Basically the idea from that movie "Pay it Forward" but instead of good deeds its just a mind-set.
I loved this movie. I went home and told my mom and little sister about it. They were so interested in it. I have such high respect for that teacher and how she resounded ti those kids and the rude parents. She was very brave and strong with her opinion and keeping it the same throughout the insults and negative responses. It was very inspiring
I agree with Caroline on how Mrs. Elliott should be happy and proud with what she did because she provided the kids with a non-prejudice way of thinking while risking her social status at the same time. She "reversed" the way the kids were thinking just by doing the experiment. She should not be looked down on for doing what she did. She helped the kids to stop thinking like their parents and everyone else in the world.
I think this film is excellent and everyone in school should see it. It shows numerous examples of racism and how dangerous innocent people may become when convinced that they are superior to others. The thing that stood out most to me about this film is how quickly these kind and caring 3rd graders turned into "little Nazis" or very racist individuals. I was actually some what shocked that just because some of the children were told that they were better than another group of children that they would turn on their friends so quickly and treat them so badly. I guess this goes to show you that "absolute power corrupts absolutely" or that any one who thinks they are superior to others will exercise their power over them. This film also shows how prejudice and superiority and inferiority are completely mental elements. No type of person is better than any other but only the thought that one is greater than another exists.
Kids are fasinating in the way that they are blindly truthful, not knowing right from wrong. This is what made the experiment to work so well because the kids openly knew there was something wrong with segregating people by eye-color.Also it was very interesting that the kids acedemic preformance got worse when they were chosen to be the "minority" group. What Ms. Lee did was truly remarkable.
I took away from the film that kids are really secretive on picking up the habits of their parents and then express the same feelings to their own lives but don't even understand the meaning of what they do.
After watching "The Class Divided" film today in class, I was impressed by Mrs. Elliot thought process in coming up to conduct the eye experiment with her 3rd grade class. I think it was amazing that she was able to teach these kids a different way of thinking about racism in such a short time. They were able to learn lessons that they will stick with them for the rest of there lives, and sure have even 14 years later. Even though there was a large majority of people who felt it was wrong to do this experiment with such young kids, I think that it was perfect age. These kids were old enough to understand what was going on young enough for this kind of experiment to really impact and affect their way of thinking. I was definitely positively affected by this film and it will also stay with me for the rest of my life.
I also agree with Laura. I think Mrs. Eliot was definitely like a "silent" hero in a way. She was able to single-handedly change the lives of those third graders and generation to come. I too was shocked by the reactions of the children and I couldn't believe that something so little as their eye color was able to transform these kids into discriminating children.
I thought the film was a little hard for 3 graders to take in at such a young age and it would be hard for them to understand. But after seeing that they went through it and after the exercise they seem to understand the situation a lot better. I also wondered why the teacher would take on such a tough tasks to make the kids understand but she seemed to want to and make the kids understand what was going on in the world around them.
I thought that the film was very interesting. The fact that the children changed their view of the world in a matter of days was amazing. The experiment worked well and although it did not have a dramatic impact on the immediate town, it changed the lives of the students that went through it. The lesson continues with the students so their children may learn the same way.
I agree with James (Jim) that the kids are brought into discrimination by their parents. The parents tell them what is right and wrong and if they think being friends with a black person is wrong than the kids will think it is wrong. They will think it is wrong because they think their parents are right and are showing them the right thing to do in life when it is not always true.
I thought the film “Class Divided” was very moving. The children thought segregation and racism was wrong, but when they were at the “top” of the class because of their eye color, their attitude changed. I thought it was very interesting to see how they treated the “other” group and how much they changed over a span of one day. I think that this was a very startling and important observational experiment and it was very moving.
While watching the documentary "Class Divided", I thought that Mrs. Elliot's students would not really understand how to extend their superiority over the other little kids. I really thought that the students would just kind of ignore it and go play with their friends regardless of the lesson. By seeing how they really took on that role of superiority, it was truly shocking. To see a little boy go against his best friend and even punch him in the gut over a lesson, gave me a sense of sadness. I felt sadness because even at such a young age, a person can be manipulated in a way that they will betray a friend. I understand its for a lesson, but to see the seriousness in which the kids took the lesson, it was very interesting.
Today we watched kids not only discuss racism, but really get to experience it. I never thought that an idea so simple would be executed so well. But the kids behavior on the first day and the second day shows the change in their characteristics. I would hope that more schools around the country, or the world even would teach this. If everyone knew what it felt like to be discriminated against then maybe people would think twice people acting a certain way to a certain person. You can really see the impact of living through something rather than just talking about it. The best part for me was seeing the whole class united hand in hand at the end of the movie. That was the best thing that I have ever seen. To see that no matter what we can all live in harmony is quite beautiful to me in a way. This was a great film.
I thought the lesson taught by Ms. Elliot was very influential to her students and to viewers who watched the kids' reactions. She presented racism to the class so that they would personally feel what is was like to be judged based on physical appearance. The results simulate what blacks feel in society. I think the use of 3rd graders was especially effective becauuse their ability to quickly interpert the situation as unfair makes adults seem ignorant: they can't see the unjust treatment, yet a class full of elementary students can see that discrimination is unfair. I think Ms. Elliot was very brave and inspiring.
I think Mrs. Elliot did the right thing by teaching a lesson the way it needed to be taught. What makes her a hero is she kept teaching the lesson for years even after people started treating her and her family unjustly. I didn't know whether to laugh or be really angry when they talked about the parents of these kids being mad and complaining of how cruel it was for the teacher to put them through this for just a couple of hours, while they put the blacks through much worse things everyday. I don't get how they can't see what they are doing is so wrong especially after knowing how they felt when someone gave only a little taste of their own medicine to their kids.
I agree with Jenna, the age that she performed the experiment on was the perfect age. These kids were old enough to understand the basic principle but not so old they would know exactly what is going on and refuse. I think this teacher did a very smart and brave thing and I do believe it should be taught across the world because everyone could learn something from this experiment.
The teacher in the film, The Class Divided, was creative in teching racism and discrimnation and how it is spread out so easily. She does so very well. I felt that she taught the lesson in a way hat her students can fulky understand the feeling of being discrimniated against and hated for something so little.
I agree with Kate, by teaching and speading he word on racism and discrimnation to children at a young age it will spread out and thus will eventually prevent it. If this lersson was not taught then kids will have no filter on what they say or do. They also would lose their moral values and wil start to develop hatred toward others for such minute reasons.
I thought this film was very interesting. The fact that 3rd graders could be influenced so easily and hate each other just because of eye color
I agree with David Ros that she was extremely creative in how she taught these kids racism. Out of all the ways she could have told them that racism is bad, having them experience the discrimination has a lot bigger of an impact.
After watching the film for the second day, I am still amazed by Mrs. Elliot. She convinced mature adults, some the same age as her and same older, that if they had brown eyes than they were superior to the rest of the adults who had blue eyes. Within fifteen minutes she had the blue eyed adults feeling troubled, irritated, and upset that they did not have a voice or opinion. Mrs. Elliot played her role brilliantly and convinced well educated adults, for about an hour and a half, that they were either superior or inferior depending on their eye color.
While watching the Class Divided video, I found it quite interesting that one woman, Mrs. Elliot, could brainwash these children so easily and molded their minds into being superior or inferior based on something as simple as eye color in the matter of a couple hours, and when she did so, the children would feed into the social division that she created. On the second day, when the adults took the same course, I was shocked that Mrs. Elliot was able to do the exact same thing with these educated people who already have set viewpoints on things. Not only did she change their viewpoints, but created the exact same situation as the children, where the superior people would act superior and the inferior people would get defensive and aggressive. These scenarios are real-world situations scaled down into a classroom, and they are amazingly accurate.
I agree with Laura that after watching the second part of the film that Mrs. Elliott did a wonderful job trying to get the adults to believe what she was saying. She played her role perfectly and was able to have an impact on them. She opened their eyes to the prejudice that blacks and other minorities were facing everyday. Some of the correction officers really understood what it was like to be in their place. After going through Mrs. Elliott`s experiment, I think that the adults will never again discriminate against someone because they understand how that person will feel.
I agree with Nick that it is very sad to see that these kids liked the feeling of being superior. It shows how easy it can be to take advantage of your superiority. For example when Mr. Gallagher told us that a part that got cut out of the movie was when a child asked the teacher to call the lunch lady to tell her to make sure that the brown eye's could not go back for seconds. This shows that even at a young age the pleasure of superiority can shine through. When given the opportunity to be "better" then someone else, the children took advantage of it and got the same satisfaction that the whites got over the blacks.
I found the little old lady just totally ripping on these big security guards who you could tell never really took anything of that sorts to be hilarious. I was surprised that not more of the other brown eyed people had been laughing as their colleagues got more and more flustered by these stereotypes that the teacher was (from an outside point of view) obviously making up as she went. You could tell that for most of the people in that room that they would remember that day for the rest of their lives.
After watching the adults in the experiment I was shocked at what I saw. It was hilarious to see them getting frustrated with each other. I found it very surprising however that the brown eyed people discriminated the blue eyed people, who would have thought that the adults wouldn't catch onto the experiment. This shows that discrimination is a huge problem because Mrs Elliot was able to change the minds of the class in under an hour.
I can not decide which film segment I find more surprising the one about the 3rd graders or the film segment where the same experiment was done on adults. I really thought the segment with the adults seemed almost fake to me and unreal because I am still shocked at the way in which these adults acted. I can not believe that fully grown men and women would just sit and not do anything when they were clearly being treated badly because of their eye color. I also can not believe that the people who had the opposite eye color did not stand up for their coworkers. Although I am glad these people experienced this experiment I really do hope they took something positive away from it because the way they acted scared me quite frankly. It scares me that one witty older woman could make a room full of adults act like children and no longer think for themselves.
It was interesting film that discriminate or segregate with eye colors. Brown or blue, which one of the color is superior. By letting the students experience the discrimination with eye color, Mrs. Elliot gave huge impact on them. Also I think Mrs. Elliot gave good lesson to the students directly and it is effective lesson to them.
The video "Class Divided" was very interesting, I thought that Mrs. Elliot had a very good experiment going on, in which it was clearly very effective in the lives of those young kids. Even during the class reunion you could tell that the kids were impacted by her experiment and, there ways of seeing and treating other people were essentially changed.
I agree with Erica, about how this was a great age of kids for Mrs. Elliot to do the experiment with because they still understand and hold onto these types of things, while older kids and adults may still learn from this experiment but might not be as quick to learn like these third graders.
I had seen this movie in Hebrew school a couple years back, but had a very differently reaction to it this time around. You can make a lot out of the actions of 3rd graders, but when the experiment was done on the adults in the training program at the prison, I found it amazing. It was funny and eye-opening at the same time. I could tell that some of the inferior people actually were taking the exercise personally, and emotionally reacting to the discrimination they were facing. What may have seemed humorous was actually these people displaying how uncomfortable they were in the given situation. I could tell that none of those people, no matter what they say, had ever experienced that level of discrimination in their lives. It came as a shock to them, and through their actions, it was obvious that they could not believe how tough life must be for someone who has to face that every day.
I like how Tyler pointed out that Mrs. Elliot was a true hero, considering she continued to teach this lesson despite constant threats and discrimination against herself and her family. She was willing to take a lot in order to try and get her message across to as many people as possible
I thought this film was interesting in its ability to reduce the human condition to such a raw state at the third grade level. Although the students are influenced by their parents and their prejudices, they have no significant grasp on what racism truly is. Thus, it was remarkable to see such pure and unadulterated reactions to the principle of racism and discrimination.
I thought this movie was really interesting because i thought it was crazy how quickly people turn around and start being mean when someone tells them that someone is superior such as when she told them blue eyes were better or brown eyes. I also think its amazing how young of an age kids start noticing whats wrong and whats right and if all teachers did this students would notice at a young age that were all the same we just have a different color. I also thought it was even more crazy when she did the experiment with adults and they acted the exact same the 3rd graders did.
I agree with Caroline she was really brave for doing the experiment when she knew she was going to be discriminated she still did it because she wanted to show her children that were all the same.
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