During the classroom, experiment children were told to treat each other according to their eye color. While one-day blue-eyed people were superior, the other day brown-eyed individuals took their place (A Class Divided). Based on this experiment, it can be seen how easily people can be influenced, and that when human beings believe that they are worse than someone, they perform worse than they could. Even though everyone knows about racism and discrimination, in contemporary society individuals develop the same opinions and treat each other unfairly. People are judged because of their skin color and are believed to be less intelligent than others.
In the experiment with the workers from the Correctional Department, Jane Elliot used the same technique. She divided the class into two groups, such as people with brown eyes who were superior and people with blue eyes who were discriminated against. As a result, blue-eyed individuals reported that they felt helpless and mistreated (A Class Divided). It was surprising that adults’ feelings were impacted by the experiment not less than children’s, and this example once again proved that everything depends on the mindset and beliefs of the person.
Since people can be influenced in such an easy way, it is important to come up with ways to use this impact positively. The same experiments can be conducted in a day-to-day environment with friends and relatives in order to understand the concept of discrimination and how it works. In addition, these experiences can be very entertaining and fun because individuals might have a chance to strengthen their personal relationships and while learning to be respectful of everyone despite their skin color or religion.
Work Cited
“A Class Divided (full film) | FRONTLINE.” YouTube, uploaded by FRONTLINE PBS | Official, 2019.