blue eyes brown eyes experiment ethical issues

980 Words. However, both Mary and Zeke have brown eyes. When she separated the class by eye color and announced that blue-eyed children were superior, Paul Bodensteiner objected at every turn. They all either smiled or laughed and nodded.". Jane Elliott at Riceville, Iowa, Elementary School in 1968. If you white folks want to be treated the way blacks are in this society, stand. As for the criticism that the exercise encourages children to distrust authority figuresthe teacher lies, then recants the lies and maintains they were justified because of a greater goodshe says she worked hard to rebuild her students' trust. Jane Elliott, an educator and anti-racism activist, first conducted her blue eyes/brown eyes exercise in her third-grade classroom in Iowa in 1968. If this arbitrary division that Elliott enforced for a few hours created so many problems in this classroom, whats happening on a larger scale? "We'll just be a couple of minutes. They wouldnt be allowed second helpings for lunch. As a school teacher in the small town of Riceville, Iowa, Elliott first conducted the anti-racism experiment on her all-white third-grade classroom, the day after the civil rights leader was killed. Many critics that the children were too young to understand the exercise. Would you like to find out? Practical Psychology began as a collection of study material for psychology students in 2016, created by a student in the field. "How do you think it would feel to be a Negro boy or girl?" She chatted about the experiment, and before she knew it was whisked off the stage. Jane Elliot's experiment involves cheating and intentional misinterpretation of facts. Dick DeMarsico/New York World-Telegram & the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection/PhotoQuest/Getty Images, Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, Committee Member - MNF Research Advisory Committee, PhD Scholarship - Uncle Isaac Brown Indigenous Scholarship. The killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, was a seismic event, a turning point that compelled many Americans to do something and do it with urgency. . "She stirs people up. (Byrnes & Kiger, 1992). Jane Elliott on The Tonight Show on May 31, 1968. Elliott was shocked by the results and decided to switch the roles the following day. ", "I've never forgotten the exercise," Whisenhunt volunteered. Blue Eyed versus Brown Eyed Students Jane Elliott was not a psychologist, but she developed one of the most famously controversial exercises in 1968 by dividing students into a blue-eyed group and . Yes, the children felt angry, hurt, betrayed. Why are we still talking about this experiment over 50 years later? Despite the adaptation of the experiment in psychological studies, Jane has been widely criticized for her unethical conduct and promotion of discrimination among children. In this scenario, students are told brown-eyed people . Yes, that day was tough. ", When I met Elliott in 2003, she hadn't been back to Riceville in 12 years. "People of other color groups seem to understand," she said. Elliott shared the essays with her mother, who showed them to the editor of the weekly Riceville Recorder. We dont have to learn about those who are other than white. This technique allows researchers to show how many different traits are necessary to create defined groups, and then analyze the subjects behavior within their groups. At lunchtime, Elliott hurried to the teachers' lounge. Blue-eyed people would get 5 extra minutes on the playground and blue-eyed people could not talk to brown-eyed people. "Your son got what he deserved," the woman said. ABC broadcast a documentary about her work. . She compromised the APA's Code of Conduct and Ethical Standard because she lied, after that she recanted the lies and kept as they were justified because of her greater purpose. And the exercise continued in a similar fashion to how it was executed the day before. In explaining the experiment rules to the brown-eyed contestants, she addresses the people of color in the room. To back up my statement Bloom (2005) says Jane Elliott's blue-eyes brown-eyes exercise encouraged children to mistrust authority figures. I often think about Paul Bodensteiner. Before proceeding with the test, she began with random questions to fully understand the children's perception of Negroes. Open Document. Jane Elliot's 'The Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes Experiment' was unethical in that she created a segregated environment in a third grade classroom. Blue-eyed students slumped in their chairs, as though . The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise received national attention shortly after it ended. She also made the brown-eyed students put construction paper armbands on the blue-eyed students. Many of them noted that when they hear prejudice and discrimination from others, they wish they could whip out those collars and give them the experience they had as third graders. The publication of compositions which the children had written about the experience in the local . "Hey, Mrs. Elliott," Steven yelled as he slung his books on his desk. On the other hand, privileged members of the community are treated as in-groups which earn them undue respect and capacity to abuse the less advantaged. When Elliott walked into the teachers' lounge the next Monday, several teachers got up and walked out. According to role theorist Erving Goffman, emotional and cognitive experiences in such experiments as the Blue-Eyed versus the Brown-Eyed can have a long-term influence on behaviors and attitudes of participants especially when they are made to play the role of a stigmatized group (Biddle, 2013). Blue eyes, brown eyes: What Jane Elliott's famous experiment says about race 50 years on. Considering all the stereotypes and prejudices that exist, what kind of damage is being done? ", Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, now-famous "blue eyes/brown eyes exercise, 'I See These Conversations As Protective': Talking With Kids About Race. Nevertheless, Elliott became as famous as a teacher could become in America. From the moment the experiment begins, Jane Elliott uses a mean tone to speak to the participants. Hire a professional with VAST experience! It is a must . However, in this classroom, having blue-eyes had become a condition of inferiority. THE ANGRY EYE , a 35-minute video, features Jane Elliott conducting her Blue Eyed/Brown Eyed exercise with college students. Grasping for a scientific explanation, she ended up claiming that melanin makes eyes darker, and makes . 4 Pages. The act of treating students differently was obviously a metaphor for the social decisions made on a larger level. She has made statements about the increase in hate crimes and racism in recent years. I want to know why youre so willing to accept it or to allow it to happen for others., The first reaction I get from teachers, who see this film or from hearing, hear me discuss what I do say to me How can you do that to these little children? That same year, Elliott was invited to the White House Conference on Children and Youth to conduct an exercise on adult educators. These differences lead to war and hate. On the first day of the experiment, she declared the brown-eyed group superior and gave them extra privileges like seconds at lunch, extra recess time, and access to the new school playground. Jane Elliott's Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes experiment was a turning point in social psychology. people are better than blue-eyed people. Articles and opinions on happiness, fear and other aspects of human psychology. 2012 2023 . "This here is Jane Elliott," I said. (2010). But Paul, one of eight siblings and the son of a dairy farmer, didnt buy Elliotts mollification. Jane Elliott and Dr. On April 5 1968 the day after the death of Martin Luther King Jr Elliott decided to show her students how easy it was to be influenced by racism. Almost immediately, it was apparent that she had created segregation and prejudice given that the blue-eyed students began exhibiting signs of dominion and superiority. The more melanin, the darker the person's eyesand the smarter the person. How do you think the world would change if everyone experienced the perils and setbacks that come with prejudice and discrimination? Traditionally, society has always treated leadership as a male issue. Directed by William Peters, the episode profiles the Iowa schoolteacher Jane Elliott and her class of third graders, who took part in a class exercise about discrimination and prejudice in 1970 and reunited in the present day to recall the experience. On the "Tonight Show" Carson broke the ice by spoofing Elliott's rural roots. The roots of racism and why it continues unabated in America and other nations are complicated and gnarled. Two years later, a BBC documentary captured the experiment in Elliott's classroom. Elliott and I were sitting at her dining room table. "On an airplane, it is," Elliott said to appreciative laughter from the studio audience. The children said yes, and the exercise began. Then tell them that . Weve been here before, with unsettling and disturbing results. Alan Charles Kors, a professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania, says Elliott's diversity training is "Orwellian" and singled her out as "the Torquemada of thought reform." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Let's just move on. "We are repeating the blue-eyed/brown-eyed exercise on a daily basis.". Back in the classroom, Elliott's experiment had taken on a life of its own. Folks leave their cars unlocked, keys in the ignition. those with brown eyes (or hazel eyes). One caller complained that white children would not be able to handle the exercise and would be seriously damaged by the exercise. More than 50 years after she first tried that exercise in her classroom, Elliott, now 87, said she sees much more work left to do to change racist attitudes. Mary and Zeke have three children, all of whom have blue eyes. Why do researchers use correlational studies? She repeated the abuse with subsequent classes, and finally turned it into a fully commercial enterprise. The textbook publisher McGraw-Hill has listed her on a timeline of key educators, along with Confucius, Plato, Aristotle, Horace Mann, Booker T. Washington, Maria Montessori and 23 others. If brown-eyed children made a mistake, Elliott would call out the mistake and attribute it to the students brown eyes. Mental Floss, 4. The nonstop parade of sickening events such as the murder of George Floyd surely is not going to be abated by a quickie experiment led by a white person for the alleged benefit of other whites as was the case with the blue-eyed, brown eyed experiment. Brian, the Elliotts' oldest son, got beaten up at school, and Jane called the ringleader's, mother. In the 60s, the United States was in the midst of a social race crisis. "You better apologize to us for getting in our way because we're better than you are," one of the brownies said. "Malinda? All the work should be used in accordance with the appropriate policies and applicable laws. Elliotts bullying rejoinder to any nonbeliever was to say that however much pain a white person felt after one or two days of made-up discrimination was nothing when compared to what Blacks endure daily. Did they know what it was like to be discriminated against? Through this study, Elliot demonstrated how easy it is for prejudice and discrimination to emerge from just a simple message that people with one eye color are superior to people with another eye color. Elliott is nothing if not stubborn. But when she discovered that I was asking pointed questions of scores of her former students, as well as others subjected to the experiment, she made an about-face and said she no longer would cooperate with me. Knowing that her experiment would have consequences, Jane remained committed to her course. (2013). Elliott split her students into two groups, based on eye color. "That's what I tried to teach, and that's what drove the other teachers crazy. She told them that people with brown eyes were better than people with blue eyes. The idea was simple but profound. To most people, it seemed to suggest that racism could be reduced, even eliminated, by a one- or two-day exercise. 4. In her article, Peggy McIntosh compares the "white privilege" to an invisible set of unearned rewards and . Racism is not genetical. "They are cleaner and they are smarter.". ", We backed out. Order from one of our vetted writers instead. . ", Elliott says the role of a teacher is to enhance students' moral development. She learned that the responses from the children were negative and more generalized about what they thought about black people. Biddle, B. J. She told them that people with brown eyes were superior to those with blue eyes, for reasons she made up. "It's Riceville 30 years ago. The arbitrary division among the students intensified over the course of the experiment, so much so that it actually ended in physical violence. They embraced the experiments reductive message, as well as its promised potential, thereby keeping the implausible rationale of Elliotts crusade alive and well for decades, however flawed and racist it really was. At this point you may wish to tell the pupils that you are conducting an "experiment" to look at what prejudice is. After the exercise white college students in . Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images ", That spring morning 37 years ago, the blue-eyed children were set apart from the children with brown or green eyes. And you'll always have it. Given the long-term results of the experiment, the controversial study could not have taken place in today's society despite its significant insights on matters racism. Jane Elliott was a third grade teacher in Riceville, Iowa when she developed the Blue Eyed/ Brown Eyed exercise to teach the effects of racism. The kids in the bottom group became timider and kept to themselves. Elliot said that when the children were given the test on the same day that they were in the superior group, they tended to get the highest scores.

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