What makes “good” people do bad things? This was the exact question that the the Milgram experiment was trying to answer. The experiment had test subjects sit in front of a panel that (actually didn’t) administered electric shocks to another test subject on the other side of a wall when they gave an incorrect answer to a question. These shocks escalated until they provided a lethal dose of current. While some of the subjects refused to administer the shock, many people went along with the instructions from the experiment observer, and delivered the “killing shock” required by the experiment. Compliance to administering the killing shock increased with the number of observers in the room. This classic psychological study demonstrated how normal individuals could theoretically kill someone because they were ordered to so, in this case, for the name of science.
This experiment was designed to specifically to address the atrocities of the Holocaust. How could “normal” soldiers carry out such heinous soldiers. What was discovered by the experiment was that lots of people will ignore their conscience when they are given an order by authority or someone they trust to know better. By following the order, personal responsibility is removed from the individual, and deflected onto the larger authority system. This creates a situation where someone society deems as evil, like Hitler, may not have physically killed anyone personally, but through his orders, is responsible for the death of millions. This also means that soldiers who we many not consider “evil” personally killed hundreds and hundreds of people. When a prisoner is about to be executed, who actually kills the prisoner, the state, or the person who flips the switch?
We have also seen examples when people are given certain authority or power, it is eventually abused. There is a famous saying that has truth in it: absolute power corrupts absolutely. This was also famously observed in the Stanford Prison Experiment of 1971. The Stanford Prison Experiment had college students act as either prisoners or jail guards. What started off as lighthearted quickly escalated into “jail guard” students mistreating the “prisoner” students based on the authority of the roles they were playing. It became so bad that the experiment had to be ended prematurely, but it demonstrated how people could mistreat each other just with the suggestion of a power hierarchy.
Instead of an experiment, what I sought to create was a safe experience that recreated the lessons of these two experiments in a far less intense way. Obviously I did not want anyone to be physically or psychologically scarred from a lesson, but I did want a genuine experience to test the students ability listen to their own conscience. I also do not want to diminish any pain or suffering from the historical context that this lesson is integrating with, so the post simulation discussion is paramount. This simulation is in no way meant to trivialize the real experience of people, but to build empathy for our students.
I have run this simulation for many years now, and it always seems to surprise the students how easily they were convinced. For one family in particular, during a parent teacher conference, telling them that their son made good choices during the simulation was the most meaningful feedback they could get. They said good grades are nice, but to hear that their son followed his conscience and has a good moral compass made them especially proud of the person their child was becoming.
Here is the first of the classroom simulations that I am going to publish in a classroom simulation series, which you will be able to purchase at the website store in the coming weeks. It is called Just Following Orders, and it has been one of my favorites. The classroom simulation series will also be included in the upcoming Montessori Physical Education Volume IV.