This Blog is a resource tool for the students taking the "FACING HISTORY AND OURSELVES" elective at Westborough High School, Westborough, Massachusetts.
Friday, March 1, 2013
PERIOD 6 - A CLASS DIVIDED
You have been watching the documentary, A Class Divided. Please post a reflective comment about the film. What did you personally take away from this documentary?
41 comments:
Patrick Doran
said...
I took that in the situation most people abuse the power when they are told they are better than others. I was surprised when the adults were affected in the same way as the third graders were because I was certain we could see right through it.
The adults started to question why they weren't in power anymore and they seemed to be even more frustrated and annoyed than the kids. I agree that people abuse power when they are given it. It was really surprising to see that the intelligence is affected by being put into an inferior or superior category. The inferior category always scoring lower.
I thought that the children and adults were able to see how people discriminate each other. The children and adults who wore the collars felt powerless. Those without the collars felt that they were superior. In both cases, they realized not to judge people by what they look like.
I thought that the children and adults were able to see how people discriminate each other. The children and adults who wore the collars felt powerless. Those without the collars felt that they were superior. In both cases, they realized not to judge people by what they look like.
I found it interesting how easy it was to manipulate the kids and how quickly they can change sides. They went from being friends to immediate enemies because an authority figure told them to. I also took away that it is important how you see yourself. If you have confidence, you are more likely to succeed. I thought it was also interesting how the adults played along but it is clear how defensive people are when in a minority. They also felt hopeless and it was sad to see they felt they were fighting a losing battle
I agree with Johanna that the adults were more frustrated than the children. It was clear they tried harder to fight the discrimination and one woman was especially bitter towards Mrs. Elliot even after the exercise was over.
Personally what I took away from this film is the ability to show how a small change can expose how easy it is for those who have the feeling of power and superiority over others can exploit it. This can be seen in the change in the actions of third graders, and is a reflection as a whole to what the nation was doing to black people.
I agree with Ben. It was amazing to see how quickly people shift their beliefs and attack people who had been their friends just because of a small shift in power.
I found it interesting how quickly the adults becamse so rude. The one woman from the very beginning refused to throw her gum out and then stuck it to the bottom of the chair and the man would not take notes. It just shows how rashly people react when they are being discriminated against.
I agree with Johanna, how it was amazing what self-confidence or lack of self-confidence could do to your scores. It just shows how much harder it was for black students, who were facing discrimination daily, to achieve good grades.
I agree with Patrick. Most people will abuse whatever kind of power they have over someone when given the chance, especially when there's no consequences.
I liked what both Max and Julia had to say in that such a ridiculous trait such as eye color can turn best friends into enemies in the matter of an hour.
I thought that this was a very interesting movie and thought it was amazing how quickly the kids were able to see how skin color is meaningless. I also like seeing how it impacted the adults in a similar way. I like how Mrs. Elliot said that rather than having the activity placed in more schools she would prefer to not have a need for it.
I thought this exercise really showed how it feels to be in the minority group, and how a superficial difference creates a new type of "second class" people, who are not actually different. The people in the experiment really seemed to understand what it was like to have this warped psychological view of themselves because of stereotypes. Although Mrs. Elliot received a lot of criticism, I thought her exercise with the 3rd graders was completely justified, because they have to learn the lesson when they are young.
I agree with Catherine, I was also interested in how adults behaved similarly to the children. It was interesting to see adults go through the same process and learn the same lesson, because usually being older is associated with being wiser. But the fact that some of them were just as ignorant as the children proved the importance of the exercise.
I was surprised how quickly the kids went along with the exercise. It was really interesting to see how fast the kids learned from it. I was surprised to see how the adults behaved similar to the children. I thought the adults wouldn't have gone along with the exercise as well as the kids did.
I like Catherine's comment about how Mrs.Elliot said that rather than having the activity used in more schools she would prefer to not have a need for it
I was surprised that the adults listened to Mrs. Elliott so well. I thought that all of them would take her exercise as a complete joke and not listen to her at all. It was also interesting how quickly the children thought that they had power over others that had different color eyes.
I agree with Sam on that Mrs. Elliott's exercise was successful and important to show people how it feels to be a minority during that time. I believe that people should have been more open to her exercise.
I was surprised at how quickly the children were able to turn on one another when they were separated by eye color. They went from one day being best friends to discriminating and harassing one another the next. The exercise was a great way to put the children in the shoes of a person being discriminated against.
I agree with Rachel's comment where she said that she was surprised at how quickly the children became engaged and affected by the exercise. I too felt as if the adults wouldn't take the exercise as seriously or get as much out of it as they did
I thought it was incredible of how easily the children were able to change so quickly based on what people were telling them. I thought it was even more impressive that when she did the experiment on adults that she got the same results.
I thought the whole process of Mrs. Elliot teaching her kids about treating everyone equal was very moving. Kids should learn at a young age to be respectful to everyone and that no person is different than another.
I agree with Julia and that it was very interesting in how the children's opinions were so easy to change when they were put on a higher level than others. They were quick to turn on each other but also quick to love each other again in the end.
I was very surprised at how quickly the children realized how horrible it feels to be segregated against and how sincerely they swore they would never judge somebody else again. I think that even at very young ages, children should be taught lessons like the one in Mrs. Elliot's classroom.
I agree with Abbey that the lesson was very moving. I think it's defiantly an important life lesson for the kids to learn and grow up with. It is a learning experience that will stay with you for your whole life.
I was surprised with how easily each child looked at their friends differently just because of the collar. Mrs. Elliot was able to brainwash these kids and the kids were gullible enough to believe all of what she was saying.
I found this documentary as an interesting way to teach children and adults the feeling of discrimination. It's funny to see eye colored used in place of skin color and how it works just as well to develop discrimination in a classroom. I think this test displayed how important it is to understand discrimination in order to prevent it from existing in society today.
I agree with Rachel in that it was surprising to see the children turn on each other so quickly. I thought it was interesting however how only two of the adults fought against the exercise. It was interesting to see the collared woman's reaction to Mrs. Elliot's comments on her and how no one backed her up, they just watched. I think it shows how difficult it is for victims of discrimination. It can force those victims into such recluse individuals, making life even harder on themselves.
I think that it was interesting how the adults knew what they were getting themselves into and yet they found themselves getting frustrated and angry over the way they were treated. It is a very powerful way of letting the whites feel how the blacks did when they were discriminated.
41 comments:
I took that in the situation most people abuse the power when they are told they are better than others. I was surprised when the adults were affected in the same way as the third graders were because I was certain we could see right through it.
I agree with pd that I was also suprised that the adults were affected in the same way as the third graders.
The adults started to question why they weren't in power anymore and they seemed to be even more frustrated and annoyed than the kids. I agree that people abuse power when they are given it. It was really surprising to see that the intelligence is affected by being put into an inferior or superior category. The inferior category always scoring lower.
I thought this was very eye opening to how quickly people started discriminating against eachother.
I thought that the children and adults were able to see how people discriminate each other. The children and adults who wore the collars felt powerless. Those without the collars felt that they were superior. In both cases, they realized not to judge people by what they look like.
I thought that the children and adults were able to see how people discriminate each other. The children and adults who wore the collars felt powerless. Those without the collars felt that they were superior. In both cases, they realized not to judge people by what they look like.
I found it interesting how easy it was to manipulate the kids and how quickly they can change sides. They went from being friends to immediate enemies because an authority figure told them to. I also took away that it is important how you see yourself. If you have confidence, you are more likely to succeed. I thought it was also interesting how the adults played along but it is clear how defensive people are when in a minority. They also felt hopeless and it was sad to see they felt they were fighting a losing battle
I agree with Johanna that the adults were more frustrated than the children. It was clear they tried harder to fight the discrimination and one woman was especially bitter towards Mrs. Elliot even after the exercise was over.
Personally what I took away from this film is the ability to show how a small change can expose how easy it is for those who have the feeling of power and superiority over others can exploit it. This can be seen in the change in the actions of third graders, and is a reflection as a whole to what the nation was doing to black people.
I agree with Ben. It was amazing to see how quickly people shift their beliefs and attack people who had been their friends just because of a small shift in power.
I found it interesting how quickly the adults becamse so rude. The one woman from the very beginning refused to throw her gum out and then stuck it to the bottom of the chair and the man would not take notes. It just shows how rashly people react when they are being discriminated against.
I agree with Johanna, how it was amazing what self-confidence or lack of self-confidence could do to your scores. It just shows how much harder it was for black students, who were facing discrimination daily, to achieve good grades.
I thought it was interesting how quickly the children turned on each other once given the chance.
I agree with Patrick. Most people will abuse whatever kind of power they have over someone when given the chance, especially when there's no consequences.
I liked what both Max and Julia had to say in that such a ridiculous trait such as eye color can turn best friends into enemies in the matter of an hour.
I thought that this was a very interesting movie and thought it was amazing how quickly the kids were able to see how skin color is meaningless. I also like seeing how it impacted the adults in a similar way. I like how Mrs. Elliot said that rather than having the activity placed in more schools she would prefer to not have a need for it.
Like Jordan I also found it interesting how rude the adults became to one another.
I thought this exercise really showed how it feels to be in the minority group, and how a superficial difference creates a new type of "second class" people, who are not actually different. The people in the experiment really seemed to understand what it was like to have this warped psychological view of themselves because of stereotypes. Although Mrs. Elliot received a lot of criticism, I thought her exercise with the 3rd graders was completely justified, because they have to learn the lesson when they are young.
I agree with Catherine, I was also interested in how adults behaved similarly to the children. It was interesting to see adults go through the same process and learn the same lesson, because usually being older is associated with being wiser. But the fact that some of them were just as ignorant as the children proved the importance of the exercise.
I was surprised how quickly the kids went along with the exercise. It was really interesting to see how fast the kids learned from it. I was surprised to see how the adults behaved similar to the children. I thought the adults wouldn't have gone along with the exercise as well as the kids did.
I like Catherine's comment about how Mrs.Elliot said that rather than having the activity used in more schools she would prefer to not have a need for it
I was surprised that the adults listened to Mrs. Elliott so well. I thought that all of them would take her exercise as a complete joke and not listen to her at all. It was also interesting how quickly the children thought that they had power over others that had different color eyes.
I agree with Sam on that Mrs. Elliott's exercise was successful and important to show people how it feels to be a minority during that time. I believe that people should have been more open to her exercise.
I was surprised at how quickly the children were able to turn on one another when they were separated by eye color. They went from one day being best friends to discriminating and harassing one another the next. The exercise was a great way to put the children in the shoes of a person being discriminated against.
I agree with Rachel's comment where she said that she was surprised at how quickly the children became engaged and affected by the exercise. I too felt as if the adults wouldn't take the exercise as seriously or get as much out of it as they did
I thought it was incredible of how easily the children were able to change so quickly based on what people were telling them. I thought it was even more impressive that when she did the experiment on adults that she got the same results.
I have to agree with Julia Arsenault. I was too surprised on how easily the students we manipulated based on what others told them.
I thought the whole process of Mrs. Elliot teaching her kids about treating everyone equal was very moving. Kids should learn at a young age to be respectful to everyone and that no person is different than another.
I agree with Julia and that it was very interesting in how the children's opinions were so easy to change when they were put on a higher level than others. They were quick to turn on each other but also quick to love each other again in the end.
I was very surprised at how quickly the children realized how horrible it feels to be segregated against and how sincerely they swore they would never judge somebody else again. I think that even at very young ages, children should be taught lessons like the one in Mrs. Elliot's classroom.
I agree with Abbey that the lesson was very moving. I think it's defiantly an important life lesson for the kids to learn and grow up with. It is a learning experience that will stay with you for your whole life.
I was surprised with how easily each child looked at their friends differently just because of the collar. Mrs. Elliot was able to brainwash these kids and the kids were gullible enough to believe all of what she was saying.
I agree with Cara, by the end of the exercise the children swore never to act like that again because they now know how it feels.
I found this documentary as an interesting way to teach children and adults the feeling of discrimination. It's funny to see eye colored used in place of skin color and how it works just as well to develop discrimination in a classroom. I think this test displayed how important it is to understand discrimination in order to prevent it from existing in society today.
I agree with Rachel in that it was surprising to see the children turn on each other so quickly. I thought it was interesting however how only two of the adults fought against the exercise. It was interesting to see the collared woman's reaction to Mrs. Elliot's comments on her and how no one backed her up, they just watched. I think it shows how difficult it is for victims of discrimination. It can force those victims into such recluse individuals, making life even harder on themselves.
It is shocking how quick some people are to judge. They just accept what they are told, and follow it.
I agree with Julia that it was interesting how the children performed academically when they were thought to be dominant or not.
I wasn't in class on Friday
I also don't know if I'm supposed to comment twice, once as a post and once as a comment...
In the movie the 4 grade teacher side that wight or black are the same like as they are not different from as.
I think that it was interesting how the adults knew what they were getting themselves into and yet they found themselves getting frustrated and angry over the way they were treated. It is a very powerful way of letting the whites feel how the blacks did when they were discriminated.
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