The Third Wave (experiment)

The Third Wave was an experimental social movement created by California high school history teacher Ron Jones in 1967. Over the course of five days, Jones conducted a series of exercises in his classroom emphasizing discipline and community. On the fourth day of the experiment, Jones decided to terminate the movement because it was slipping out of his control.

About The Third Wave (experiment) in brief

The Third Wave was an experimental social movement created by California high school history teacher Ron Jones in 1967. Jones found it difficult to explain how the German population could accept the actions of the Nazi regime during the Second World War. Over the course of five days, Jones conducted a series of exercises in his classroom emphasizing discipline and community. As the movement grew outside his class and began to number in the hundreds, Jones began to feel that the movement had spiraled out of control. He convinced the students to attend a rally where he claimed that the classroom project was part of a nationwide movement, and that the announcement of a Third Wave presidential candidate would be televised.

Instead of a televised address of their leader, the students were presented with an empty channel. The next day, Jones announced that they had been a part of an experiment in fascism and that they all willingly created a sense of superiority in the Nazi period of Germany. The experiment was not well documented at the time. It is only briefly mentioned in two issues of the Cubberley High School student newspaper, TheCubberley Catamount. All of the students showed drastic improvement in their academic skills and tremendous motivation. On the fourth day of the experiment, Jones decided to terminate the movement because it was slipping out of his control.

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