Darian DolanskyDr. GrantSOC 2006 June 2016Reflection on A Class DividedJane Elliot’s famous study of discrimination constructed a new reality for a group of young third graders in the 1960s. She began the day proposing a new social construction that would divide the class into two categories. This first of these categories included the superior blue-eyed students, who were deemed as smart and of greater value. Ultimately being of the higher authority. The brown-eyed students were then stereotyped as a less intelligent group and of less value, leaving them subject to discrimination. It did not take long for a superiority complex to develop within the higher class of the blue-eyed students, as they began to “feel likethey were better than the others.” Being stigmatized by the blue-eyed students the brown-eyed students began to feel a loss of confidence in themselves and as if their friends were being taken away. They began to struggle with their own social identity not understanding why they were not as valued and developing frustration with these class conflicts. Not only did the social interaction of the groups result in social inequality but led to a failure of the students to exert self-control. Upon being teased one brown-eyed student punched one of the blue-eyed students in frustration, clearly exemplifying the great impact stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination have on social groups. I found that the experiment itself was very interesting. Not only did I not expert such a quick and impactful reaction from the third graders, but I felt like the experiment showed howeasy it is for biases to develop and stereotypes to mislead us in our treatment of others. Even though the blue-eyed children were aware that they were of a higher social status, there were never forced into treating the brown-eyed students differently from themselves. This was a choice they made upon being informed of the social divide between the two categories. In addition to emphasizing the impact of stereotypes, I feel like this shows how important it is to teach children the proper way of treating others. Biases such as the fundamental attribution error only feed into our preconceived notions about people and prevent us from having an openmind and being quick to judge. At such a young age and in prime years of development it is key that we educate children on stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination to decrease the disastrous implications these factors have on our future