Monday, January 10, 2011
Blue eyed/Brown eyed
I think the experiment done by Elliot was a great idea. I agree with everything she believed in and I think it was an experiment that needed to be done. I don’t think what she did was cruelty in any way, she didn’t hurt any of the kids and it was all just temporary. It’s amazing to me to see how quickly the kids took to the experiment and their views started to change. The fact that they can so easily switch their views and just oppress their fellow students and friends blows my mind. I would have loved to be part of this experiment to truly live through the situation. I mean, we are truly living through racial oppression every day, but I think it would have been a great chance to see the outcome and to be part of this certain experiment as a child. One of the articles I really enjoyed was “Waking Up White” and the woman, Jan Arminio, spoke about how her kids knew so much. I don’t think I really, honestly, knew that much about different races when I was a kid. I grew up in a higher middle class town in a large house on a street that was completely white. The first time I truly interacted with someone who looked different than me was in middle school. This would have been an eye opening change in my life had I been part of an experiment like this. I think it was an ethical experiment that made people angry because they didn’t want to admit their children were racist (and the fact that they knew it was because of them) and I honor any teacher who challenges her students in this manor.
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The problem was these children were not participants in an experiment and their parents had not given permission. They were in school not in a lab. While I think the goals of the experiment were admirable I don't think verbally abusing children in order to teach them something is an ethical approach. I loved her methods on the adults, but creating a hypothesis and testing it on children without the scientific backing or behavioral psychology background is unethical.
ReplyDeletePS: What do you think about the boy who's father was openly criticized in class? How do you think that relationship will suffer since the teacher took a private reality and shared it with the class, condemned the father and then blamed it on his eye color...keeping in mind that kid was 8? What if you were the brown eyed dad?
Thanks a lot Dawn for commenting! I really appreciate you questioning my blog! (truthfully!! haha) I think when I first wrote my blog, I was all gung-ho about the experiment and thinking "This is great! this should be done!" But I think looking back at it now, and after reading some other blogs, I do see where the issue lies by this experiment. You're completely right, children are NOT experiments! I was more excited about the outcome and didn't pay much attention to what was actually happening. This was a flaw in my analyzing so I appreciate you challenging it! Unfortunately I have to run so I'm going to come back and comment on your question about the father tomorrow, Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteI think that some kids are extremely privileged and need to understand what it is like to be marginalized and oppressed. Yes, we can talk about it, but there is need for some kind of experiential component. While Elliott's methods are controversial right through to today, 40 years later, I think the kids as adults not only didn't seem harmed from the experiment, but they were quite transformed in terms of making them more open to diversity and resistant to prejudice.
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