blue eyes brown eyes experiment ethical issues blue eyes brown eyes experiment ethical issues

When Elliott conducted the exercise the next year, she added something extra to collect data. APA principles acknowledge that individuals rights to privacy, self-determination, and confidentiality is paramount to all psychological activities. In the documentary, she said that she conducted the original blue-eyes, brown-eyes experiment to make a positive change. Introduction. (She prefers the term "exercise.") Perhaps because the outcome seemed so optimistic and comforting, coverage of Elliott and the experiments alleged curative powers cropped up everywhere. ", 2023 Smithsonian Magazine Why Did Jane Elliott Choose Eye Color To Divide Her Students? From the moment the experiment begins, Jane Elliott uses a mean tone to speak to the participants. ", When I met Elliott in 2003, she hadn't been back to Riceville in 12 years. If you are the original author of this essay and no longer wish to have it published on the 4 Pages. The blue eyes and brown eyes experiment According to supporters of Elliott's approach, the goal is to reach people's sense of empathy and morality. The nearest traffic light is 20 miles away. They don't replace the diagnosis, advice, or treatment of a professional. It makes you proud. I got to have five minutes extra of recess." Before proceeding with the test, she began with random questions to fully understand the children's perception of Negroes. ", Elliott says the role of a teacher is to enhance students' moral development. In doing the research for my book with scores of peoples who were participants in the experiment, I reached out to Elliott. These initial criticisms didnt stop Elliott. The Blue-Eyed/Brown-Eyed Experiment: Investigation. The publication of compositions which the children had written about the experience in the local . Hundreds of viewers wrote letters saying Elliott's work appalled them. Jane Elliott's experiment. I felt mad. The basic idea was to separate the class into two halves - those with blue eyes and those with brown. She told them that people with brown eyes were better than people with blue eyes. In present society, psychological experiments are guided by honesty, truthfulness, and accuracy. The experiment, known as Blue Eyes Brown Eyes experiment, is regarded as an eye-opening way for children to learn about racism and discrimination. They needed not acknowledge their privilege or reflect on it. The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise continues to be relevant. Not a day goes by without me thinking about it, Ms. Elliott. "How dare you try this cruel experiment out on white children," one said. It also documents small-town White America's reflex reaction to the . Before she could answer, another boy piped up: "If she didn't have blue eyes, she'd be the principal or the superintendent.". It also shows how arbitrary and subjective things can turn friends, family members, and citizens against each other. The documentary has become a popular teaching tool among teachers, business owners, and even employees at correctional facilities. The brown-eyed children felt suddenly that they were discriminated, while the blue eyed started seeing them as inferior. The brown-eyed students also exercised a certain level of power over the blue-eyed students when they put the armbands on them. In a similar vein, Linda Seebach, a conservative columnist for the Rocky Mountain News, wrote in 2004 that Elliott was a "disgrace" and described her exercise as "sadistic," adding, "You would think that any normal person would realize that she had done an evil thing. The people and cultures already present in a place often feel threatened by new immigrants. After the exercise white college students in . Pasicznyk joined 75 other employees for a training session in the companys suburban Denver headquarters in the late 1980s. "You have to put the exercise in the context of the rest of the year. "She taught in this school for 18 years." ", The two hugged, and Whisenhunt had tears streaming down her cheeks. She also made the brown-eyed students put construction paper armbands on the blue-eyed students. Blue-eyed students suggested that the teacher use a yardstick to discipline brown-eyed students that misbehaved. "That you, Ms. She told them that people with brown eyes were better than people with blue eyes. 4. ", Jane shielded her eyes from the morning sun. The blue-eyed participants faced discrimination for two and a half hours. One of the ways Hitler decided who went into the gas chamber was eye color, Elliott said in a later speech. Theyd have to use paper cups if they drank from the water fountain. "You can see the look on their faces. The results are mixed. She also made the brown-eyed students put construction paper armbands on the blue-eyed students. The blue-eyed girl apologized. She has . I felt mad. One student answers, since the day I was born. Throughout the entire experiment, Elliott leads frank conversations about race and discrimination. "Eye color, hair color and skin color are caused by a chemical," Elliott went on, writing MELANIN on the blackboard. Sorry, but it's not possible to copy the text due to security reasons. Traditionally, society has always treated leadership as a male issue. The blue-eyed participants faced discrimination for two and a half hours. "We want to see Room No. SYNOPSIS OF BLUE EYED. Given the ethical concerns, will you still rely on a quasi-experimental research design as a source of information in counselling psychology? The Blue Eyes & Brown Eyes Exercise. That spring morning 37 years ago, the blue-eyed children were set apart from the children with brown or green eyes. Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes 1968 - Jane Elliot, grade school teacher in Iowa conducted a classroom experiment to test whether racism was a learned characteristic Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes - an experiment to "create racism" Jane Elliot divided her 4th grade class into two groups based on eye color The Brown eyed group were told they were superior due . The next day, Jane made it known to the students that she had made a mistake and that the brown-eyed pupils were better and smarter than their counterparts. On the first day, the blue-eyed students were informed that they were genetically inferior to the brown-eyed students. How do you think the world would change if everyone experienced the perils and setbacks that come with prejudice and discrimination? "Your son got what he deserved," the woman said. The Blue Eye/Brown Eye was an experiment performed by Jane Elliot in 1968 on the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. In the 60th year beyond Brown vs. Board of Education, Frontline is making available their classic 1985 documentary, " A Class Divided ," about the experiment and what happened later. More than 50 years after her famous exercise, Elliott is still fighting. She says that its shocking how children whore normally kind, cooperative, and friendly with each other suddenly become arrogant, discriminatory, and hostile when they belong to a superior group. There are risks to those inoculations, too, but we determine that those risks are worth taking. This was the smaller group. Stephen G. Bloom does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. She then made the blue-eyed students believe that they were better and smarter than their counterparts. "It's happening every day in this country, right now," she said in an interview with Morning Edition. 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 . . American Psychological Association, 4. . They all either smiled or laughed and nodded.". A second look at the blue-eyes, brown-eyes experiment that taught third-graders about racism. The answer, in a word, was nothing. Even though some of the children said yes, Elliott pushed back. 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. I felt like hitting them if I wanted to. We walked into the principal's office at RicevilleElementary School, Elliott's old haunt. The Hangout Bar & Grill, the Riceville Pharmacy and ATouch of Dutch, a restaurant owned by Mennonites, line Main Street. Many critics that the children were too young to understand the exercise. Would you like to get this essay by email? In a grassy front yard down the block is a hand-lettered sign: "Glads for Sale, 3 for $1." It has everything to do with power.. The day after Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination in 1968, Jane Elliott, a schoolteacher in rural Iowa, introduced to her all-white third-grade class a shocking experiment to demonstrate . Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER! The following are some of her most insightful quotes on these issues. In Jane Elliott's experiment she made the third graders believe that the blue eyed people were better,than the brown eyed people. "It would be hard to know, wouldn't it, unless we actually experienced discrimination ourselves. The American Psychologists Principles and code of conduct state that in cases of deception, experimenters should take into consideration the potential harmful effects to participants. SpeedyPaper.com 2023 All rights reserved. Elliott began the exercise by dividing her students by eye color. . Brian, the Elliotts' oldest son, got beaten up at school, and Jane called the ringleader's, mother. It is sometimes cited as a landmark of social science. Abstract The effectiveness of a well-known prejudice-reduction simulation, "Blue Eyes-Brown Eyes," was assessed as a tool for changing the attitudes of ncnblack teacher eduction students toward blacks. 1. Kids on top would tease the children who were deemed as the inferior group. Separate the class into two halves - those with blue eyes and those with brown. The blue-eyed students, when told they were superior and offered privileges such as extra recess time, changed their behavior dramatically and their attitudes toward the children with brown eyes. "We'll just be a couple of minutes. 980 Words. "Because we might catch something," a brown-eyed boy said. Elliott's friends and family say she's tenacious, and has always had a reformer's zeal. Essay Example, Essay Example on Racism Towards Black People, Essay Sample about Developing a Campaign for School Intimidation, Essay Example on Therapist-Client Relationship Boundaries, Islamic Perspective on Euthanasia, Free Essay Sample. You've still got that same sweet smile. Even family members can turn against each other if some authority suddenly decides that those differences are a problem. Yes, the children felt angry, hurt, betrayed. Students in the inferior groups were more likely to get a worse score. She has spoken at more than 350 colleges and universities. Thats how it started, and thats how it went all day long. The students initially involved wished that everyone could participate in an exercise like this. Proceeding with the experiment, Elliot divided the children into two groups each with nine pupils. Little children don't like uproar in the classroom. Blue Eyes vs. Brown Eyes Experiment. 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." The musical is about romance, but it integrates issues of race and discrimination (Norris, 2014), and the song is about how discrimination is taught carefully, in long term. The results were the same. Elliotts coworkers avoided her after her appearance on The Tonight Show. she asked the children, who were white. Then a picture was taken to remember. "She could get kids to do anything she wanted them to," he says of Elliott. Professor Jane Elliott performed a group experiment with her students that they would never forget. View Module 2 Discussion_ Are We Still Divided_ Blue Eyes_Brown Eyes_ A 3rd Grade Lesson for Us All.pdf from HUMN 330 at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. ", Elliott replied, "Why are we so worried about the fragile egos of white children who experience a couple of hours of made-up racism one day when blacks experience real racism every day of their lives?". The test also included violation of consent in which participation of the children was made involuntarily. Mental Floss, 4. Issues such as the right to know, the right to privacy, and informed consent. Your Privacy Rights Practical Psychology began as a collection of study material for psychology students in 2016, created by a student in the field. There is a way to avoid editing or writing from scratch! Jane Elliott, Creator of the "Blue/Brown Eyes" Experiment, Says Racism Is Easy To Fix. Ethics + Religion; Health; Politics + Society; . Jane Elliot and the Blue-Eyed Children Experiment. She says its because racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, and ethnocentrism are mean and nasty. Now 45, she had been in Elliott's third grade class in 1969. With over 2 million YouTube subscribers, over 500 articles, and an annual reach of almost 12 million students, it has become one of the most popular sources of psychological information. "Probably because they have been taught how they're treated in this country that they have to understand us. The basic idea was to separate the class into two halves, students with blue eyes and those with brown. At first, she cooperated with me. He printed them under the headline "How Discrimination Feels." Two education professors in England, Ivor F. Goodson and Pat Sikes, suggest that Elliott's experiment was unethical because the participants weren't informed of its real purpose beforehand. Jane Elliott's Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes experiment was a turning point in social psychology. Although actions from the experiment show lack of respect towards subjects it has widely been recognized in the study of human behavior in social and cultural context. Everyone looked at Mrs. Elliott. 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. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . She would conduct the exercise for the nine more years she taught the third grade, and the next eight years she taught seventh and eighth graders before giving up teaching in Riceville, in 1985, largely to conduct the eye-color exercise for groups outside the school. "This here is Jane Elliott," I said.